The most crucial, as well as the most frequently over- looked, point about 'folk music' is that the constituency whom it most truly represents doesn't consider it to be 'folk music', but simply their music. 'Folk music' is, invariably, a term applied from outside the cultures and communities to which it refers. In terms of theory, 'folk music' the traditional set of forms, styles and songs indigenous to a people, a culture or a locale is radically distinguishable from 'art' music, of both the classical and avant-garde varieties, and from 'popular' music, mass produced for and mass-marketed to a mass audience. In practice, it's getting harder and harder to tell them apart. Before the advent of recording, distinctions between categories of music were not so much based on the music itself as on who it was by and for. Such distinctions were a reflection of the class system, which is not surprising since these are essentially European definitions, and reflect prevailing European social structures. European classical music operates according to a strict hierarchical structure, with the composer (the monarch, so to speak) at the top. The composer's wishes are interpreted and enforced by the conductor (the general) and carried out by the orchestra (the troops). During their lifetimes, the great composers often also functioned as the featured soloists.