We don't seem to get too many of them where I'm staying - maybe the law is different here, maybe the democraphics.Julian Lloyd Webber was the first of the "new London Tube buskers" in 2001, when the law was changed to allow a certain amount of it on the Underground:
Buskers are now able to perform legally on certain tube platforms (but not trains). A change in the local by-law came after eight out of ten passengers on the London Underground interviewed said they liked hearing live music as they travelled.
Nobody liked being hassled though, so prospective buskers are vetted and have to audition when they apply for a formal licence. Only two buskers per station are allowed, and they can have up to two hours each.
In Melbourne, the new Lord Mayor wants to "clean up the streets", register and regulate them, to eliminate "untalented buskers". Seems to me that the busking issue is a litmus test of libertarian credentials - does one nod on approvingly as the city officials move through busking ranks, deciding who shall eat and who shall not, the arbiter being the officials' musical taste?
Also, how much can someone earn in two hours?
So what is the reality in the UK as a whole, for buskers? One forum commenter said:
In my experience largely you don't need a license, unless you are on private property then you may need permission. Some city councils have introduced licensing, as a way to control busking but one could argue that this is not law. I have a simple policy— it is easier to say sorry than ask for permission.
What's your attitude to buskers?
I love buskers! They turn the dull ordinary travel day into an adventure. Even bad ones.
ReplyDeleteI really love street artists, too.
Soon we will need permits to walk our own streets.
A few years ago I heard three wonderful turns in about 10 days. One was an electric guitarist doing an astonishingly good "It don't mean a thing.." in that jazz mecca, Stowmarket. The second was a bloke playing Bach organ music on a squeezebox in an U-bahn station in Berlin: really, it worked. Third was a string quartet baching away outside KDW. They certainly merited the very appreciative crowd that gathered. On the other hand, have you ever heard a busker attempt "Miss Otis Regrets" in the style of Bob Dylan? I survived it, narrowly, in Cambridge.
ReplyDeleteUber, you mean you don't have a current permit for that?
ReplyDelete"On the other hand, have you ever heard a busker attempt "Miss Otis Regrets" in the style of Bob Dylan?"
No, dearieme, I have not and am mightily glad you did the job instead.