I started a thread based on Rod Stradling's declarations of plummeting sales

That is anecdotal, Jim.

anecdotal
Dictionary result for anecdotal
/?an?k'd??tl/
adjective
adjective: anecdotal

    (of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.

I agree entirely that the heady days of the 60s folk club boom is well gone but since the turn of the millennium the folk scene has been showing a steady growth. Albeit not in the direction you want it grow.