Busker Street is a blog about buskers in the street and other ways to make money from doing what you love.

There are many tools and resources out there for people who want to learn how to be a busker. But it can still be hard to know where to start, or how to get better. That’s where Busker Street comes in – we bring together the best tips and tricks from around the world, so you can learn more and make more.

Busker Street is all about finding new ways to do what you love. And that’s why we’re also going to be speaking with people from other walks of life who have turned their passion into a profession: artists, dancers, musicians, photographers, sculptors, writers, and anyone else who has found a way to make money from doing what they love. We’ll be asking them how they did it (and how you can too).

The idea behind this blog is to help people make a living from doing what they love.

And I’m starting with street performers, or ‘buskers’, because that’s how I make my living.

I’ve been a professional busker for the last seven years and in that time I’ve learned a few things about making money from playing music in the street.

I hope you will find some of them useful.

We have all seen them, the street performers, or buskers as they are also known. They entertain us with their music, dancing, singing, magic tricks and juggling. Busking is a huge industry. It was reported in May 2008 that London had over 1000 buskers.

The busker is in many ways a free spirit. We celebrate their achievements, but we can be quick to criticise when we feel they are not pulling their weight or if we feel they are not good enough. The British public are some of the harshest critics of buskers in the world as I found out when writing my article about the challenges faced by buskers in London which you can find on my blog here: http://www.howtomakealivingfromdoingwhatyoulove.com/busking-a-challenge-for-those-who-love-to-perform/

Busking is a life choice and many people choose to do it for different reasons. Some people do it because they love it and just want to play music for other people to enjoy, while others see it as a way of making money while they save up to get their band signed or get themselves into drama school. For some people its just a stop gap between jobs or

I am a busker; I play music in the tube stations of London and make a living from it. I used to work as an engineer, but I couldn’t find any kind of job that seemed worthwhile to me. So now I’m doing what I want to do, and making a living at it.

The truth is, this is not all that hard. There are many ways to make money from doing what you love. Many people are already doing it. In fact the world is full of them; you have just been trained to ignore them. But now you can start looking for them, noticing them, and learning from them; there’s a lot out there to learn from.

I will write about my adventures in trying to make a living by doing what I love: if you are interested in trying that yourself, they should be useful. If you are just interested in the world as it is, they might also be interesting.

My name is Eric and I would like to welcome you to my site. I want to make money from what I love doing, and that’s busking on the streets of London. I’ve been busking for years, but it’s always been a side thing. Now I want to take it further and do it full time

The first thing I have to do is find out if it is possible. Can you make enough money from busking? What are the best ways of getting more people involved? Are there any problems with the law? How can I get started?

I’m going to write about my experiences here. There will be a lot of trial and error, but hopefully this will help you as well as me. If you have any advice or questions, please leave a comment or email me at eric@buskerstreet.org

Thanks!

So you want to make a living from doing what you love. How do you do it?

Some people take the traditional route: they get a job in a field related to their passion, and work their way up, hoping eventually to be able to focus on what they love. Most of the time, though, what they end up with is more of a job than a career – something that pays the bills but doesn’t satisfy them.

Others try to break into the industry by starting out as interns or assistants, hoping that through hard work and persistence they’ll eventually earn enough recognition to get a chance at doing what they want. Unfortunately, most of the time, this is a dead-end path – there are only so many positions available in any given industry, and once those spots are filled it’s very hard for newcomers to be considered for them. And even if you’re lucky enough to find one of these positions, once you have it you’ll have to put in years of hard work just for a shot at doing what you love.

When I first heard that I was going to spend my summer in Scotland, I immediately pictured myself in a kilt playing the bagpipes. Not only had I never been to Scotland, but I had never even played the bagpipes. My parents, however, were determined to make this dream of mine come true. My father found an online store that sold kilt and bagpipe packages for $50 and my mother found a bagpipe instructor who was willing to teach lessons over Skype.

I was looking forward to the summer until the day came when we received our flight itinerary. The itinerary stated that we would be staying in Edinburgh for one day before continuing on to Inverness where my grandparents lived. One day! I panicked. How could I possibly become a Scottish busker in one day?

I spent the next two weeks frantically learning as many traditional Scottish songs as possible on YouTube, practicing at least once a day while wearing my brand new kilt and sporran (a pouch-like accessory worn around your waist). On the day of our arrival, I proudly wore my busking outfit through security and onto the plane. When we finally arrived at the airport in Edinburgh, I rushed outside and immediately began searching for a good spot to perform