Well yes it does matter what music is called, from the standpoint of the person who is deciding whether or not they are going to buy a CD, attend a performance, or otherwise go out of their way to listen to it. The term 'folk' can and is very broadly defined by some - if I was told about a folk festival I'd never heard of I'd probably check out the list of performers and the description of the acts and, if it was mostly singer songwriters I probably wouldn't attend. If it looked like there was a strong traditional element, which is what I'd be looking for - I might give it a shot. If it was opera, pop, rap, or some other genre I know I have little or no interest in then I wouldn't even bother to check who the performers were. At least the label 'folk' enables us to narrow things down a bit, although there are subcategories and 'crossover' acts that may have crossed over just a little too far (for my tastes) into some other category such as pop or rock. At the concert series I run I state clearly that it is 'traditional folk' and define what I consider that to be http://www.richmondfolkmusic.com . That way potential performers know what we are looking for (and it is further clarified in the 'Information for Performers" section), and the prospective audience knows what kind of music they can expect.   I do get inquiries from performers who clearly don't fit with the kind of music we present, but I just politely reply that we are looking for traditional folk music, and we specialize in traditional folk because we feel there are so few venues that feature it. That's our 'niche'. There's another concert series in town that mostly features singer songwriters that also bill themselves as 'folk' and that's okay with me.