The Newcastle folk degree course must be a godsend to the main protagonists here. Judging by the content of the thread you'd need a degree to fathom it all out. The fact that the issue has become so academic is meaningless to the majority of people who play and listen to the music - they know what they like and enjoy it regardless of its pedigree. In the great scheme of things it doesn't really matter. Something is always lost when someone gets a hold of what you like and decides it's their mission in life to organise it.