Quote
The Sandman
Date: 12 Aug 24 - 07:43 AM
The fact that many songs appear throughout the country in very similar forms shows that the published broad sheets had an influence on the repertoire of singers.quote

correct but only after a certain period and the advent of broadsheets,
older sons were composed by ordinary people and not for monetary gain,

more latterly people have composed their own songsgenerally for pleasure, the small proprtion of people that compose songs now for money are pop writers like goffin king.End quote

Until broad sheets were invented they obviously had no influence on anything.
Most people compose songs for their own pleasure or to pass social or political comment.not for financial gain .
there were however people who wrote songs for gain such as minstrels and the like before the broad sheet writers. of
The music scene today, traditional and pop alike, is the result of thousands of years of input from many sources and people.