Dear Street Musician, Here’s 5 ways you are sabotaging your street performance and how you can stop it ASAP: A blog about the do’s and don’t of being a street performer. Does include hiring of the company for this service!

We’ve all been there. Standing on a crowded street corner, and then there is that one guy. He just looks like a horrible performer, he doesn’t sound good at all, he isn’t even entertaining or funny. He doesn’t have any people watching him, and the worst part is, he just won’t leave. You may be thinking to yourself “how does that guy get by? How does he manage to make money with such poor talent? I could do better than that!”

Well as a matter of fact, maybe you could. But how? It was hard enough trying to be good at what you do, but now you have to be good at making money by doing it? That is where we come in!

Here are 5 tips to ensure that your street performances are not only improving in quality but also becoming profitable:

Dear Street Musician,

Here’s 5 ways you are sabotaging your street performance and how you can stop it ASAP: A blog about the do’s and don’t of being a street performer. Does include hiring of the company for this service!

Today I wanted to talk to you about something that has been on my mind for a while now. It is a very delicate topic and I ask that if you are easily offended, please click off this post right now. (I am sure there are plenty of other articles here at Music Marketing Classroom that will interest you.)

Not you? Good, then maybe we can help fix something that’s been bothering me for some time. You see, I am a musician and I have been performing on the streets for many years. But lately I have noticed that there are other street performers out there who have no idea what they are doing. They just stand there playing their instruments and expect people to throw money at them because they think it’s funny or cute or whatever reason they came up with in their head as to why people should pay them money.

I’m not saying that all street performers are bad but there are definitely some who need some serious help when it comes to making money and

Dear Street Musician,

Here’s 5 ways you are sabotaging your street performance and how you can stop it ASAP:

1. Not being prepared: This one is a given. You should always have your instrument in tune, and you should always have material ready to play.

2. Sticking to the same songs: Have you seen those people on the streets who just play the same song over and over? It gets old fast! You need to make sure you have a variety of songs for different audiences. Certain songs will work better for certain crowds. The easiest way to know what will work best is by trial and error. If a song isn’t working, move onto the next one! And if it is working, keep playing it until it doesn’t anymore! And when in doubt, play something with a steady beat that people can dance to!

3. Not engaging with your crowd: Part of being a street performer is interacting with your audience! People want to see you smiling and having fun! Do whatever makes you look like you are enjoying yourself while playing, because if you enjoy yourself, they will too!

4. Being shy: This goes hand in hand with

When it comes to street performers, we are all on the same team. We want to make more money and have more fun as a street performer. So why do so many of us get it wrong?

We’ve compiled this list of 5 ‘sabotage’ moves that you probably don’t even know you are doing and how you can fix them ASAP and start making more money than ever before.

1. Don’t wear anything stupid!

When you are in your performance outfit, you need to look like a star. Not an idiot. This means no clown outfits or other tacky clothing that doesn’t even look good on a clown.

2. Don’t go where people are already performing!

This is common sense, but I need to say it anyway. If there is already someone performing at the spot where you want to perform, don’t go there! It is rude for one thing and for another people will think you work for them! And there is nothing worse than 2 performers competing for the same space in front of the same crowd. Move on and find somewhere new (and check out our ‘How to find the best spots in town’ blog).

1. Don’t play a song you don’t know well

As a street performer, being able to play music is half the battle. The other half is the delivery. If you don’t practice enough before you hit the streets, your music will be sloppy and your delivery will be scattered. You might think that it doesn’t matter because people are just walking by you anyway. But the truth is that most of those people who walk by you are deciding if they want to stop and listen or not based on how well you play. If they get a taste of your sloppy playing they will walk right past you and not look back.

But if you can hook them in with some good playing, then they will listen to what else you have to offer as a musician. Your ability to hook them in will determine how much money people drop in your case and whether or not they keep coming back for more. So make sure that you take the time to practice your songs before you go out on the street.

2. Do Bring Out The Crowd

If you want to make money as a street performer, but don’t have an audience, then it won’t matter how good of a musician you are because nobody will

1. Poor Location: It is all about location, location, location. You need to be in a high traffic area with a lot of people walking by. The more people you have walking by the more money you will make. It doesn’t matter if you are playing at a farmers market or at a busy intersection but you do need to be in an area where there is a lot of foot traffic.

2. No eye contact: One of the biggest mistakes that performers make is not making eye contact with people walking by. You need to make the person walking by feel special and included in your act while they are watching you. Making eye contact will keep them entertained and interested in what you have going on and they will be more inclined to put money in your hat as well.

3. No interaction/engagement: You need to interact with the crowd as much as possible during your show. When people see that you are interacting with others it makes them feel like they want to join in on the fun and this means that they will give you more money for your performance. Don’t just go through your show without saying a word, interact with the crowd and engage them from start to finish of your show and get them excited about what is going on

1) You’re playing for the wrong audience.

More specifically, you’re playing for the wrong audience at the wrong time.

If you are a classical musician and decide to play in front of a bar, you are not playing for people who want to listen to classical music.

If you are playing songs that require concentration and appreciation, play in places where people have time to sit down and listen. This means places like parks, subway stations or quiet streets.

If you are a good performer and can entertain people while they walk or drink, then bars might be the right place for you.

2) You’re not asking for anything in return.

Tipping should be easy and guilt-free on both sides.

You get paid by small donations from your audience but you don’t ask them for it directly because it would look rude and impolite, right?

Wrong! It is actually very polite to ask for something in return when someone enjoys your performance. So don’t feel guilty about asking!

Here’s how: Put out a tip jar with clear information about what you do (name of band, name of song), pass it around during your performance or…