Mebbe it was all the in-fighting and public fallings-out of the polarised 'trad' & 'non-trad' brigades that brought the collapse?

Mebbe it was a complicated set of circumstances over a lengthy period of time. Circumstances that included very strong socio-economic influences?

Mebbe it was that folk clubs, like most entertainment venues, had a shelf-life that ran out?

Mebbe it was that most of the people who went to the clubs weren't dedicated folk-enthusiasts, they were just people who enjoyed a night out listening to something that was 'different'. When it stopped being 'different' to their ears, it became 'boring'?

I dunno what it was (if it happened at all, which I'm not sure it did), but it's not helped by some of the stuff on here. Name-calling, insults, abuse, sweeping generalisations, opinions posed as fact, attempts to expose members' real identity (must be against the forum rules? Joe??).

My first post wasn't a suggestion that Westlife/James Blunt etc are wonderful music, I was just trying to say, in an ironic sort of way that fear of judgmental attitudes, fear of being cold-shouldered because you don't play the 'right' stuff, and unwillingness to risk getting embroiled in the kind of fight we've seen here, certainly doesn't encourage joiners.