Controversy
The authority and expertise of the Zorn Jury, which awards the Zorn Badge, is generally accepted within the Swedish folk music community. The controversy associated with the system generally relates to the question of which instruments are regarded as traditional, and thus approved for judgment by the Jury. Many argue that no such limitations should exist, the argument being that "it's not what you play, but how you play." Others push for the acceptance of certain specific instruments. The best-known case in which such a movement succeeded resulted in the Jury's allowance of the diatonic button accordion (durspel) for the first time in 1979. Currently (as of 2008), a similar movement is pushing for the acceptance of trall, or vocable singing, as a traditional instrument.
Another minor controversy regards the word "spelman" (literally "play-man") itself, given the growing number of female "spelmän" and riksspelmän in Sweden.
Read more about this topic: Riksspelman
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