>"how the word is used by more recent scholars."
How is that - so far you have mentioned literacy?
"And the current popular definition "
What is the current popular definition - so far nothing?

Uh-oh. It's starting. Please re-read my posts carefully. Those "more recent scholars" tend to be very broadly inclusive.

Maybe it's because they have nothing to contribute to the study of traditional music, and so they cast their nets ever wider to justify their degrees in folklore. Who knows?

And the "current popular definition" is "the meaning most ordinary people associate with it." As others have made very clear, that includes traditional song, current imitations of traditional song, and anything else thought to resemble either in substance or style.

I don't like it, but I have to accept it.