The main point of contention is how to classify the new songs. Some professional musicians think that Yang's works are too Westernized to represent China, and as he has never received any academic training, his techniques are not mature.
然而楊弦的創作普遍地受到重視，還是洪建全文化教育基金會把他的歌曲錄製成唱片之後的事。「中國現代民歌」的名稱亦首度在這張唱片的封套上出現。