traditional music doesn't include newly composed music.

From the shameful pomposity of your missive, John P, I gather you are one of the folky faithful, mistaking theoretical perspectives for the theological absolutes that not only underpin your self-righteous indignation, but the dusty shibboleths you trot out as though they were self-evident truths.

Here's a one for you: all music is born of tradition; all music is, therefore, traditional music, which is maybe why the stated aims of International Council For Traditional Music are to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation and dissemination of traditional music, including folk, popular, classical and urban music, and dance of all countries.

People are composing in traditional idioms the whole time; many traditional idioms the world over are founded on the tradition of new composition, be it Slavic epic ballads or in hundreds tunes written daily for the Northumbrian Smallpipes - a tradition which is strongly based on composition anyway. Newly composed traditional music happens all the time - be it written, recorded, computerised, spontaneous, improvised, feral, found, scored, or otherwise. In the end the only tradition that matters is the tradition of human beings singing and playing music irrespective of style, taste, or genre, of which folk is just one example - no different to any other, except in the minds of the faithful.