You're right about the stool, Les. In say 1960 the clubs were the main leg of the stool, in fact it was more of a shooting stick as they were the dominant part of the show. That, luckily I would say,is no longer the case, there are loads of different activities going on. As I mentioned earlier in this thread for example, out of the last twenty gigs I played, only one was in a folk club.
There are so many different scenes and sub-scenes, it isn't remotely homogeneous, which is excellent. This wonderful variety can be threatened, of course, if one small sub-group can get its hands on the media and publicity outlets for example.In that case the public may be given a very distorted and narrow view of what is in fact a very varied kind music. This is a possible danger that might need thinking about, but things will hopefully change. Basically folk music is a many headed hydra that grows in all directions, and changes shape as well. Knocking one bit on the head won't affect the rest much. Which is as it should be.