> the 1954 definition says there is no more folk music being created. Most posting totally reject this idea.

Steve Gardham is 100% right. After my 15 years at Mudcat, I think it's very true that "most" of us truly believe that "folk music" is still being created on a grand scale, maybe even more than in the past.

But they're referring to a very different sort of music, partly because they were led astray by '60s marketing ploys, partly because they feel a fondness for various romantic connotations of "folk music."

Was Shakespeare Shakespeare? Depends on who you mean by Shakespeare.