Oh yeah, you can really see that dichotomy when it comes to “traditional” musics… authenticity in music really is very informed by how capitalism commodifies music. And frankly, in this case, by tourism, too. Of course, you got lots of people coming to Ireland looking for an “authentic” pub experience, right down to the music, so the tourism industry I’m sure works hard to make that a key part of the tourist experience. So now, people “expect” that when they come over (especially us Irish American tourists! We want to see the OLD country, don’t ya know)…
Well, that’s kind of my point, it’s sort of a pointless designation meant to organize people’s consumption and shape their identity in a way that helps to reproduce the capitalist system…
