Busking? Worth the effort?

Funkfingers

SouthpawMark said:
Bloody love buskers when they’re decent. When they’re not, I’d gladly pay them to stop.  

Agree.

Shrews said:

I've even heard that, in these parts, you also have to be 'vetted' by shop owners to see whether you're good enough and that you'll play the music they find suitable.

“Vetting” may be overstating the case BUT, if a busking act near a business premises appears to be driving customers away, the business owners will not hesitate to complain to the police. They will probably forewarn their Rotarian chums against you too.

Bellycaster

Wonky said:

You may well need a license for that.

Not if he takes along his "Minkey"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnlIWpZSPXU

fandango

Best experience of listening to a busker was in Greenwich foot tunnel (London, so a long way from Durham) a few years back. The reverb was amazing, and that”s my takeaway from that 10 minute walk, not what song he was playing, or how well (or badly) he was playing his acoustic. Just that fantastic reverb echo.


Meanwhile ....

https://i.imgur.com/PK5mZp6.jpg

downbytheriver

The best (and most successful) buskers take it seriously. 

This chap is a friend of mine... he sells CDs and is very popular wherever he goes. As I understand it, he doesn’t do band gigs any more, busking pays so much better - for him. He built the drummer (midi driven)!

https://youtu.be/JT_Zl-jAXv4 

tony99

downbytheriver said:

The best (and most successful) buskers take it seriously. 

This chap is a friend of mine... he sells CDs and is very popular wherever he goes. As I understand it, he doesn’t do band gigs any more, busking pays so much better - for him. He built the drummer (midi driven)!

https://youtu.be/JT_Zl-jAXv4 

looks like dave gilmour with a little whispy beard

OilCityPickups

Speaking as a Londoner ... a good busker can make my day ... amplified or un-amplified, and I always donate to a good one. I busked a bit in my 20s ... it was fun but really hard work. As basically an amplified rock electric guitar player it was bloody good discipline for me to learn how to entertain with just an acoustic and me voice.

ToneControl

The bagpipe lady in Chester should be banned
How would you like that outside your business or office repeatedly all day?

RichardMarc

I did a fair bit of busking in the past, starting when I was about 13 through into my 20s and earned a fair bit of money from it around the Leeds/Bradford area - on a good day I could get a couple hundred quid in a few hours. Depends where you are really, some places require a licence others don't so best to check with the local council.  Playing amplified I felt I could play better for longer without straining my voice, which is surely a good thing, as long as you are conscious of other people and don't play too loud (and have a varied catalogue of songs to keep shop workers opposite you appeased).  I would have thought Durham would be fairly good for buskers with the amount of tourists over the summer.

Sassafras

SouthpawMark said:

Bloody love buskers when they’re decent. When they’re not I’d gladly pay them to stop. There’s a guy who busks in Bond St station, and all he does for hour on end is whistle tunelessly. He’s blind so you can’t even give him a hint by walking past with your fingers in your earholes. 

Those war heroes who were blinded in the service of their country should be hounded out of town. There are plenty of able bodied freeloaders ready to take their place.

thecolourbox

The fact that you're asking about it at least means you're probably decent as self awareness is an admirable quality in a busker. The buskers in Birmingham city centre are utterly terrible and this has made me seem very resentful towards buskers, but as somebody else has said above it's only resentment towards bad buskers. And they are really terrible in Birmingham, I've seen maybe two that were not awful since I started work there in 2010

As to whether it is good for a bit of pocket money, based on the sheer frequency of the repeat offenders in Birmingham city centre, it's either very much worth it or they are all delusional nutters. As they are from Birmingham it is unfortunately very likely it's the latter here but I'd imagine in a nice town with a tourist footfall you'd do well

57Deluxe

Averages out at about £30 /hr in a busy conurbation - 2 hours tops... and if you any good of course.

TIP: no-one wants to hear your heartbreak romancey bollocks though...

steveledzep

Best busker I've seen was a couple of years ago in Glasgow.  It was in the centre, think it was Argyle St.  It was a guy with a bass guitar and quite a sophisticated looper.  He created his percussion using his mouth.  I sat listening and watching him for an hour or so, it was stunning !

Dan_Halen

thegummy said:

axisus said:

thegummy said:

Just want to say that a lot of people hate amplified buskers and having their sound forced on them when they're just trying to go about town.

Whether that affects your decision or not is up to you, I won't say any more about it.

Just in case you might be the type who would want to avoid upsetting a lot of people but just weren't aware of the disdain.

Miserable fekrz! I love to hear live music, even if it's not my kind of stuff. 

There are probably things you don't like that others love. You probably wouldn't want those things forced on you, doesn't make you miserable.

Are they really forcing it on you? Like, some guy, literally following/stalking you around town for hours, repeatedly playing Wonderwall out of tune and singing the wrong words?

If they’re crap I find them pretty easy to ignore with feeling personally violated. If they’re good it’s nice surprise and I’ll enjoy them and probably chuck them a couple of quid.

sev112

downbytheriver said:

The best (and most successful) buskers take it seriously. 

This chap is a friend of mine... he sells CDs and is very popular wherever he goes. As I understand it, he doesn’t do band gigs any more, busking pays so much better - for him. He built the drummer (midi driven)!

https://youtu.be/JT_Zl-jAXv4 

Either this is the chap who plays in Reading every weekend, or the hand built skeleton drummer is a common band mate amongst buskers these days

martin8708

Playing the devils advocate , as someone who works in town centre , having a shitty amplified busker across the road can make your work day a misery.

The best busker we had was some guy propped up in our doorway with a charity shop acoustic , making up anti- government songs as he went along .
He looked like he had a bit of a hard life , and he only knew a few chords ,but his songs made Kevin " Bloody " Wilsons lyrics look like children's nursery rhymes. 
Bloody brilliant !!! 

Nitefly

downbytheriver said:

The best (and most successful) buskers take it seriously. 

This chap is a friend of mine... he sells CDs and is very popular wherever he goes. As I understand it, he doesn’t do band gigs any more, busking pays so much better - for him. He built the drummer (midi driven)!

https://youtu.be/JT_Zl-jAXv4 

"Robberry" at Lloyds Bank?  Brilliant!

57Deluxe

sev112 said:

downbytheriver said:

The best (and most successful) buskers take it seriously. 

This chap is a friend of mine... he sells CDs and is very popular wherever he goes. As I understand it, he doesn’t do band gigs any more, busking pays so much better - for him. He built the drummer (midi driven)!

https://youtu.be/JT_Zl-jAXv4 

Either this is the chap who plays in Reading every weekend, or the hand built skeleton drummer is a common band mate amongst buskers these days

geeze does Guilford High Street too... has one very tolerant and patient missus...

Eartrumpet

Maybe form a street performance group / busking band or whatever the term would be...

I think these guys make a living from it?

Eartrumpet

As for a license

Keefy

@sawyer I don't know whether you're old enough to remember but there used to be a fella that busked with an autoharp on Framwellgate bridge in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Mrs Keefy and I used to refer to him as Plinky. He was bog awful.