: What also concerns me in this conversation is what seems to be a link to ONE tradition -
: a tradition that starts with a British tradition and splinters toward cultures in the North
: America and elswhere, but it completely different from other cultures. To use a term such
: as "folk music" is perfectly acceptable to me if it includes music from the Balkans, Italy,
: Spain, China, Nigeria and other countries of the world - and the various regions and traditions
: in each.

Me too, because I'm quite happy to gove any of those a go. (Whereas I've already heard enough Dylanoid crap to know I never want to hear any more of it, whatever it might be called).

I already raised that issue, by asking what people knew of the way the word for "folk" is used in other cultures. The one I know most about is Turkish, where the word "halk" is used, if anything, MORE restrictively than the "1954" usage, while attracting a much larger audience than in the English-speaking world. Whereas singer-songwriter music independent of folk tradition, unlike the situation in English, DOES have a distinctive label - "özgün" - and virtually nobody gives a shit about it any more.