But (Guest LTS) do you think there really are still unknown source-singers with a secret cache of old songs no one has heard for decades, sitting in the corner of the pub waiting to get the chance to sing? My guess is that most pub regulars, if asked for a song, would offer "Delilah" or some other karaoke favourite rather than anything remotely traditional, and then trail off after a verse-and-a half when they realised they didn't know it all.

And yes, it's all tied up with the use of sound systems and recorded music, and the modern expectation that there will be background music in any place of relaxation. A kind of vicious cycle has taken place: publicans start playing recorded music, so spontaneous singing tends not to happen, so publicans continue to play recorded music even more because there's no other music taking place anyway, etc etc. Hard to say which happened first, but it's difficult to break the cycle now, except by setting up a regular session, arranged and expected, and asking the landlord to turn off the PA when it's due to start.

Song-collecting, like so many of the things we sing about, isn't what it was, and there's not point in pretending that if the pubs were quieter, people would start spontaneous singing again.

Marje