The only real differences between the Western folk traditions of the past and the culture we have today are superficial - the speed and breadth of availability made possible by technology, and the pervasive commodification of culture within the framework of rampant capitalism. The underlying purposes of the music is exactly the same. Nowadays, if you want your culture, you have to pay for it, or you will have none! But if you can pay for it, you can get it fast with hardly lifting a finger. Its very easy if you have the money.
The vessels we have access to in which our cultures are held represent a total victory of capitalism and commerce over art and nature. The vessels of culture are less and less often embodied in actual people actually performing or executing art for the benefit of the community, and are instead more and more impersonal and blandly universal in content and intention. All of our various folk musics and art have become simply more commodity available in several easily recognized and marketable flavors. Performances have been captured, bottled, categorized, and barcoded. Performances have become more uniform in quality and standardized in market appeal so that use and sales can be tracked and quantified and predicted. Like any other product. It needs to be safe, predictable, attractive and reliable or it is inefficient, uncontrollable, and perhaps dangerous. Or maybe it always was a just a commodity in a way and controlled by an elite - court jesters and Shakespeare and his troup being at the beck and call of the King, etc....
Was it Cicero of Rome who first made mention of giving the people circuses and bread? Anyway...
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