Traditional songs are only traditional because they are old. when they were first sung they would have been the popular songs of the time and the area in which they were sung. Printing allowed wider circulation, but recording and transmission are relatively new phenomena.
Collectors,academics and committed traditional singers have a particular view of the importance of old songs which does not seem to be shared by the vast majority of the population.
Deriding the majority for their poor taste and inactivity is a form of snobbery all to evident in academic circles.
john.