The problem with being a street performer is that you have to make your living on the street. When I was in college I had a friend who worked summers at a shop on Boston’s Newbury Street selling juggling equipment. The pay was low, but it was steady, and he didn’t have to worry about whether people would be willing to stop and watch him juggle. That is what I wanted.
The only way to go from making nothing to making money is to become a street performer. Not only does the pay rise dramatically, but the experience you get doing it is priceless. You can’t get good at doing something until you’ve done it a lot, and you can’t do something a lot unless you’re getting paid for it. It’s worth noting that this applies to programming as well as juggling: there’s no better way to learn than by doing, but if you’re not getting paid for doing it, how much time are you going to devote to it? Not much.
A good rule of thumb for becoming a good street performer is that your goal should be for passers-by not just to stop and watch, but to drop their jaws in amazement and then throw money at you when they are done.
If you can do this, the
I have been a street performer for the past few months in the Boston area. I have made a lot of money with my music, and it has been an amazing experience.
I would like to share my secrets with you.
My strategy is to “own” one intersection of a major street corner, and do not move. I bring a tip jar with me to every gig. Most people will drop money in the jar after they hear me play, but some people will drop money in there during the song. This has helped me make more money than if I just stood there and played my guitar.
I usually perform for about two hours at a time, then take a break for about ten minutes. When I take breaks from performing, people will usually talk to me and ask questions about what I am doing there, or how long I have been playing for. It is important to be friendly and talkative when you are taking breaks from performing, because this is how your audience gets to know you.
This has helped me make more money than if I just stood there and played my guitar without talking to anyone or interacting with them in any way.
The main thing that keeps me motivated to play guitar all day long is that it’s really fun! It’s
It’s easy to be a street performer. I’ve been doing it for years. If you want to try it, but are afraid, I’d like to tell you what it’s like so you’ll feel more comfortable.
One of the first questions people ask is: aren’t you afraid of being robbed? The answer is no. I’ve never even been threatened with violence, let alone robbed. I think if I were a woman alone in some cities at night, this would not be true. But as a woman or a man with a partner, or in most parts of the U.S., street performing seems quite safe. And even if you’re completely alone in New York at night, as long as you stay on major streets and wear ordinary clothes, your chances of meeting anyone who might bother you seem low enough to be negligible. Street performing is much safer than crossing the street.
The second question people ask is: don’t the police make you stop? The answer again is no–except for one time in Palo Alto when a cop made me move from one side of the sidewalk to another because I was blocking pedestrian traffic (I was playing behind a sign that said “No Sidewalk Obstructions”). That’s the only time I’ve ever had
All you need to be a street performer is a hat, and maybe a sign. If you’re good, you get money in your hat.
If you’re great, you also get CDs and DVDs sold by your fans.
But what if you want to make a living on the street? What if you want to get rich?
Then you need to do something so valuable that people will pay for it.
One of the weirder jobs I had was as a street performer. Well, not really a street performer, since I was too shy to sing on the streets, but a elevator music performer.
The job went like this: you rent out a shopping mall space for $10 an hour and then sell CDs of your songs for $20 each.
My basic strategy for making money as an elevator music performer was to go to places where lots of people pass through, but few people stop: airports, train stations, shopping malls. There were other musicians who played at tourist traps in big cities, but they had higher overhead: they paid thousands of dollars to rent out space on main streets.
I think most people would rather buy something than give money away, even if they don’t really want it. It’s hard to tell someone no. And when you’re trapped in an elevator with nothing to do but listen to one song over and over again and stare at the singer’s CD table, it’s easier to just buy a CD than listen for another hour.
And yes it’s tacky. But airport food is expensive too.
It’s possible to make a living on the street as a musician or magician. It’s not likely, but it is possible.
Most people who try to do this fail. But those who succeed have one thing in common: they had day jobs. At least at first.
The key is that there are two parallel paths to success here: getting better, and getting more fans. Practice makes you better, and fans spread the word to other fans.
You can’t start with the second step. You have to get some fans before you can get more fans. But you can make it your full-time job right away to get better. If you can work on your craft for 40 hours per week instead of 20, all else being equal you’ll be twice as good in a year, and eventually that will make a big difference.