Being a busker is hard. It’s not just about standing on the street and playing or singing. You need to know what you’re doing, how to set up your act and how to sell it.
This blog is about how to do all of that. I’ve been a professional busker for over 20 years, touring with some of the best performers in the world. I’ve been into busking from the start and I’m still passionate about it.
I’m going to share everything that I’ve learnt about performing on the streets and in public spaces so that you can benefit from my experiences.
I’ll reveal how you can get more gigs, sell more CDs, make more money and most importantly, how you can become a better performer.
A lot of people ask me what it takes to be a busker but the truth is there isn’t just one answer. Some people might tell you it’s all about the music and some will insist that the real secret is in being a performer and connecting with the audience. I’m afraid it’s not that easy.
Some say it’s about finding your own space, but I think that for most of us we have to take whatever space is available, so we have to make the most of what we have.
I believe it’s about a combination of many things: You must be able to read people and connect with them, find out what they want to hear and what will make them stop and listen. You must also know how to get the crowd involved, without making them feel awkward or embarrassed. And above all, you have to be able to play your instrument well enough that even if someone doesn’t like your music they can enjoy listening to you play it!
Busking is an art that has been around for centuries,but how can you make money busking? How can you attract a crowd and hold their attention? What do you need to become a professional busker?
Busking is the art of performing in public places for voluntary donations. Many street performers are musicians, but many other types exist. Buskers may do acrobatics, animal tricks, balloon twisting, caricatures, clowning, comedy, contortions, escapology, dance, fire skills, flea circus, fortune-telling, juggling, magic, mime, living statue, musical performance (especially street performance), puppeteering (especially glove puppetry), snake charming, storytelling or reciting poetry or prose, street art such as sketching and painting and street theatre.
It takes a lot of practice and skill to become a successful busker. Performing in public takes courage and alot of confidence. If you are shy then maybe becoming a busker is not for you. You need to be able to stand in front of strangers and draw them in with your act. You need to be able to handle hecklers and people who dislike your act.
You will also need some basic equipment such as costumes (depending on what type of
A few years ago, I was in the Boston subway with my husband. We’re both musicians and we’ve been busking in the Boston subway for many years, so we pay close attention to what other musicians are doing.
That day we noticed a young man playing classical guitar. He was good! In fact, he was very good. There was no one else around but us, so I asked my husband if he would mind standing by the musician and counting how many people dropped money into his case during the next song.
This particular station has an echo that makes it hard to hear any music played there, but as long as you stand right next to the musician you can hear well enough. After he played a short piece my husband told me that only two people had dropped money in the case. Then after another piece only one person put money in. After a third piece, no one did.
My husband then approached the musician and introduced himself as a fellow busker who plays in that station often. He complimented him on his playing and handed him a business card with our website address on it, which includes all sorts of useful information for buskers, including how much you can expect to make per hour at each of the stations in Boston
There is a huge difference between being a professional and being an amateur.
I think it comes down to one thing: commitment.
You are either committed to what you are doing or you aren’t. When you are committed to something, you have made the decision to do whatever it takes (with in reason of course) to make it happen. You will sacrifice things in your life to accomplish your goal. You will practice more than other people, work harder than other people and be more focused on your goal than other people.
When I was playing music professionally, I would practice everyday for hours at a time until my fingers were raw. My friends called me crazy because they said that I was practicing so much that I wasn’t enjoying life anymore. Playing music became a chore when it used to be my passion. But I did this because I had made the decision that I wanted to play music for a living and I was going to do whatever it took to make that happen.
In order for me to make money as a busker, I need people to stop and watch me play my music. To get the most amount of people to stop, I need them to hear me while they are still far enough away that they can change their path and
Busking is the act of performing in public places for voluntary donations. People engaging in this practice are called street performers or buskers. Buskers may be professionals, who are committed to a lifestyle of busking full time, or amateurs, who do it as a hobby or part-time job.
Busking is common among musicians, jugglers, magicians, mimes and other street performers. Busking has a long tradition in the UK and many British cities have an active busking culture. Other cities like New York City and Portland Oregon also support a strong busking culture. In recent years busking has become popular at music festivals across the globe.
A number of organizations exist to support professional or aspiring amateur musicians and other street performers. The International Buskers Festival founded by Rod Petrie is one of them. The International Buskers Festival operates from Christchurch New Zealand and happens each year over four days during January at various locations around the city.
The whole point of busking is to make money. If you are not making enough money, chances are you are doing one or more of the following:
Playing too long
It seems counter-intuitive, but if you play for too long, you can actually prevent yourself from making more money. A lot of people think they need to play for hours on end to make a decent amount of money, but playing for that long actually has a negative effect.
If you have been at the same location for a long time without taking a break, people will stop noticing you! This is true not only of your audience, but also of your potential customers. I’ve had this happen many times. People walk right past me without even seeing me because they don’t pay attention to things they see every day. How do I get them to notice me in that case? I move!
This can be scary because it means abandoning a busy spot where you were making good money. But once you go away, then come back later those people will notice you again and treat you like a fresh new act. If it’s late in the day and hard to find another good spot, just do something different…play different songs than usual or try a new joke. Just change something so
