I think the thread title is too much of a blanket statement. The Arts Councils of England, Scotland, N Ireland and Wales all have different policies. I've been reviewing the Scottish ones recently and traditional musics seem to be well covered compared, perhaps, to other areas of the UK. Wales has been very poor in the past, recently improved, but now we're losing some ground ... and that's largely due to a) current disagreements between our National Assembly and Arts Council for Wales, b) cuts in Lottery funding and c) the looming black hole of the Olympics (as well as all the other glamour projects - most Millenium related - which have top sliced community arts projects.)

I've had better luck with ACW - including a £5000 grant jointly from ACW and PRSF - than I've had with the other Lottery distributors or private trusts ...

siân