I fully understand- its what I do.

In an earlier thread of amazing duration many argued for the preservation of the folk world as a small, specialized world that does not need to grow.

I think cancellation of this program should render that argument absurd.

The folk music world needs to grow and the way it does so is by way of increasing access. We need to draw lessons from the demise of folkwaves. The main lesson is that the folk world can not continue as a specialized lifeway. It needs to be more accessible and more politically diverse.

Whenever a government cuts something of value then those promoting that which has been cut has not been doing something right. It has not favorably influenced the powers of its importance. This does not mean it has to fundamentally change its contents but maybe change the way it is perceived. Bringing more people in would help but other subtle things can help as well. Often the problem is political perception. Why are folkies perceived as left wingers for example even though there is nothing really left wing about the music?

Politicos also tend to react to numbers. I was shouted down here by people telling me repeatedly that it is ok to remain small and exclusive. This does not help build numbers.

It is not a UK issue- believe me that even with the cuts your folk programming is much better than we have. Our local bluegrass folk all moved to digital radio and is not easily available except on line. We all have to work on it.

You cant just complain or lament. You have to find ways to make folk music indespensible- open it up, lower venue costs, remove any barrier to new people coming in, get everybody singing not just pros.
Demonstrate the economic importance of selling folk cds around the world via bbc programming. I think this is a big one. Folkwaves helped sell me on a large number of groups and sent me out to spend more than I normally would have.

Conrad