To go into Hoots comments a bit further, the suggestion that Punk benefited from the folk scene may be true when looked at from the far left, typified by Billy Bragg and the Pogues, but was never true of the mainstream. As Program Controller of University Radio Loughborough in the days of the Lowbrow Folk Festival, we were far more associated with the concept album end of things the record producers so hated, because they couldn't get a three-minute single from them to cash in on. Think Sally Oldfield as an influence in Mike's work. That's why they closed that end of the industry down, swapping to exploit hip-hop and punk to the exclusion of almost all else.
Having been away for nearly 20 years overseas, two things have happened: firstly, you need more youngsters, and secondly, the audiences have definitely dropped. Places like Walthamstow used to get up to 200 on a night, you can't even find a venue in North London capable of taking that number now. The Wedding Industry has its own halls, charging the earth. Take over a cinema? Gut a fleapit? To give the Harrison in Kings Cross its due, they might be able to, if a club were interested in forming there, to give it credibility.