Right, so I may end up having to live off busking for a while. It's either that or tele-marketing, and I value my dignity - and my soul - so the latter's out of the question.
Can anyone suggest good busking locations in London? I was moved off've Leicester Square yesterday by the fuzz, (not before making a few quid - ha!) and subsequently found that the whole of Westminster is pretty much off-limits unless you've got a licence for Covent Garden (which I'm considering getting, although the insurance is pricey).
My criteria for a good spot are:
a) Not likely to be moved on by the cops (ie, not against the council bylaws)
b) decent pedestrian traffic, pref wealthy, awestruck tourists
c) not surrounded by posh shops who'll complain at the, ahem, drop of a hat.
d) bit of sunlight wouldn't hurt
I've heard Eton bridge at Windsor Castle is a good bet, but I'd have to spend a fair amount getting there in the first place.
A friend of mine made £124 in three hours on Eton bridge - but it was Christmas Eve!! I haven't busked in London - but last time I busked in Reading it worked out at around £20 per hour. but that was on Saturdays when there was greater pedestrian traffic.
Hi Matt - I used to find it not very lucrative (read into that my level of proficiency if you will!), but very good for practicing. I don't know what it would be like nowadays, but I wouldn't have thought you could live off it.
Have you considered other casual work? Cycle or motor bike couriering? Bar work? Don't those ANZAC papers in London advertise all sorts of casual jobs?
Good luck whatever you choose to do.
PS - I used to busk around Baker Street, Edgeware Road, King's Cross, Euston tubes. I know someone who used to just play piano box around these new shopping centres, Lewisham, Bromley etc. Hope this helps.
I tried living off busking, & the dole, in Dublin for about a year, in the late 70s, but, a bit like Danny, I made very little money, but it was great for practicing.
I've got rent sorted for a while, so that's not so much of a bother. It's just for food and travelling expenses until I get a real job. It's all rather romantic, this whole 'poverty' lark. Something for the grandkids one day: "You kids have it lucky, with your fancy shmancy hoverboards and your weekend holidays to Ganymede and your insta-meal sythesisers... when I was starting out, I had to busk in a rubbish bin, covered in mud with a turnip on my head, just to earn a few pennies to buy a crust of bread so I wouldn't starve. Gah. Kids of today."
Good luck with this Matt! As an alternative I could suggest Guildford high street, there always seem to be musicians around, but of course you'd have to be certain of recouping the train fare.
Let us know where you end up and how you get on. Personally, I'm too self concious but I suspect as others have said, quite apart from the small point of the money, it'll have great knock on effects for your playing.
Try bits of the South Bank at weekends, moving down towards the Tate, the Globe and Tower Bridge from the Eye,but you may have some competition for the best spots.
Personally I'm not quite that broke to need to go out at the minute, but I've been waiting for my audition from Transport for London for several months now - I guess they have other preoccupations at the moment.
Also see recent thread re the cold.
I work in South Ken. It's good for busking as there are tons of tourists en route from the museums to the tube - give it a shot. You get a fairly high standard as the Royal Academy of Music is just round the corner. I've heard all sorts though - plus in the tunnel you don't get rained on - got to be a bonus!
Is the licence expensive then? I was under the impression that you just had to do an audition and it was only about £30?
Have you applied for tax credit Q? If you declare yourself as a self-employed musician and claim to work at least 30 hours a week while earning under £100 (on average) you get a top up of £41 a week paid directly into you're bank account - extra if you've dependents. If you earn over £100 you will still get something. Expenses such as phone calls, strings, travel expenses etc are all deductible. Best of luck! https://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/HomeIR.aspx
The licence for Covent Garden only costs as much as the performance insurance does. It's mainly for street theatre though... people who throw plates and knives and small children at pigeons, sorta thing. It's nearly 100 quid, I heard. As far as Leicester² goes, the copper who moved me on said it was against council bylaws to busk there, full stop. But another copper just outside Covent Garden read in his little bylaw book that music busking wasn't illegal per se, but obstructing pedestrian traffic, loitering, begging and disturbing the peace were, so if anybody - cop or shopowner or whomever - complained, it's on yer bike, pal. Or jail.
I did once busk many years ago with a string quartet in the South Ken museum tunnel. Got about a fiver in half an hour.
One thing though: there's a list you're supposed put yourself on. (We didn't know, but were treated civilly all the same). Makes sense given there's a large population of hard-up student musicians close by (RCM). So it might be worth your while dropping by and having a chat with a regular just to get the gen on how it works.
I've not busked anytime recently; but my (possibly ill-informed) impression is you'd be most likely to coin it on a weekend amongst the shopping crowds. If not in the centre of London then some retail paradise such as Kingston.
Don't know much about London these days, but it IS fun to go out and busk!
On Saturday I was watching the Test Match at Bellerive in the company of some Australians, of Irish descendancy, from Victoria. We'd had a few beers and chatted some while, and one of them mentioned a party, and would I go. "Sorry, got to go to a concert" etc....
....eventually "Come on then! Give us a tune!"
I played "Banish Misfortune" once through on a Generation Bb; one of the lads held out a cap, into which $5.85 landed with unerring accuracy and was swiftly followed by 3 glasses of beer ( not aimed, might I add, just there for the drinking)!
Just got back from another stint at Ealing Broadway. I needed to make 4 quid so I could afford a return ticket to Hammersmith to meet Zina. But I've gotta phone Helen to find out what time and where to meet, and the number I've got for her doesn't work... so if anyone knows Helen Roche's mobile number, could you email it to me? It's 12.30pm now... I think I've got about a half hour to play with until it's prolly too late.
Yes - Presumin Ed is right - if you can bear it, busk to the Christmas shopping crowds. I must confess to playing cheesy arrangements of Christmas songs and I made about £25 in less than an hour (thankfully, it was very cold). That was years ago and in Eastbourne (coach loads of northern pensioners on a day trip to the coast feeling sorry for a freezing young flautist I think). The record earning amongst the precinct buskers there was held by a comedy keyboard player who made £130 in an hour (again on a Saturday in the run-up to Christmas).
Busking pitches in London
Busking pitches in London
Right, so I may end up having to live off busking for a while. It's either that or tele-marketing, and I value my dignity - and my soul - so the latter's out of the question.
Can anyone suggest good busking locations in London? I was moved off've Leicester Square yesterday by the fuzz, (not before making a few quid - ha!) and subsequently found that the whole of Westminster is pretty much off-limits unless you've got a licence for Covent Garden (which I'm considering getting, although the insurance is pricey).
My criteria for a good spot are:
a) Not likely to be moved on by the cops (ie, not against the council bylaws)
b) decent pedestrian traffic, pref wealthy, awestruck tourists
c) not surrounded by posh shops who'll complain at the, ahem, drop of a hat.
d) bit of sunlight wouldn't hurt
I've heard Eton bridge at Windsor Castle is a good bet, but I'd have to spend a fair amount getting there in the first place.
Also, what d'ye reckon's a good hourly rate?
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
In miner's strike 20+ yrs ago, I was making £40 a day busking in York which was a lot more healthy and lucrative than working underground.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by geoffwright
Re: Busking pitches in London
yowser. that's a bit of alright even by today's standards!
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
Try Embankment first [or by the bridge in Westminster.]
Have you tried the underground chageover at Islington at rush hour c. 5pm ?It's busy for commuters changing over for Richmond...
Good luck!
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by flauta dolce
Re: Busking pitches in London
A friend of mine made £124 in three hours on Eton bridge - but it was Christmas Eve!! I haven't busked in London - but last time I busked in Reading it worked out at around £20 per hour. but that was on Saturdays when there was greater pedestrian traffic.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Tarrantella
Re: Busking pitches in London
Hi Matt - I used to find it not very lucrative (read into that my level of proficiency if you will!), but very good for practicing. I don't know what it would be like nowadays, but I wouldn't have thought you could live off it.
Have you considered other casual work? Cycle or motor bike couriering? Bar work? Don't those ANZAC papers in London advertise all sorts of casual jobs?
Good luck whatever you choose to do.
PS - I used to busk around Baker Street, Edgeware Road, King's Cross, Euston tubes. I know someone who used to just play piano box around these new shopping centres, Lewisham, Bromley etc. Hope this helps.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Busking pitches in London
I tried living off busking, & the dole, in Dublin for about a year, in the late 70s, but, a bit like Danny, I made very little money, but it was great for practicing.
Good Luck.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Busking pitches in London
Oh yeah - Naturally, you have to sign on as well!
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Busking pitches in London
I can't sign on lads, I'm not one of youse
I've got rent sorted for a while, so that's not so much of a bother. It's just for food and travelling expenses until I get a real job. It's all rather romantic, this whole 'poverty' lark. Something for the grandkids one day: "You kids have it lucky, with your fancy shmancy hoverboards and your weekend holidays to Ganymede and your insta-meal sythesisers... when I was starting out, I had to busk in a rubbish bin, covered in mud with a turnip on my head, just to earn a few pennies to buy a crust of bread so I wouldn't starve. Gah. Kids of today."
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
I'd like to see you playing in a rubbish bin with a turnip on your head. I'd throw you a crust.
The South Bank between the Tate Modern and the London Eye looked like a good pitch to me but dunno how long you'd be tolerated for.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Bren
Re: Busking pitches in London
Busking at Leicester Square got me 3 pounds in 15 minutes, before I was moved on - but at least that's better than Badly Drawn Boy!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2798281.stm
And my 8 quid in an hour at Ealing Broadway also beat the Guardian journos rate in their follow-up to Badly Drawn Boy:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,903157,00.html
but clearly I'm going to the wrong places. £124 in three hours? I'll dream on, thanks
also, for anyone interested: busking tips for Badly Drawn Boy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2798281.stm
That museum tunnel at South Kensington looks innerstin.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
Good luck with this Matt! As an alternative I could suggest Guildford high street, there always seem to be musicians around, but of course you'd have to be certain of recouping the train fare.
Let us know where you end up and how you get on. Personally, I'm too self concious but I suspect as others have said, quite apart from the small point of the money, it'll have great knock on effects for your playing.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by NeilC
Re: Busking pitches in London
Try bits of the South Bank at weekends, moving down towards the Tate, the Globe and Tower Bridge from the Eye,but you may have some competition for the best spots.
Personally I'm not quite that broke to need to go out at the minute, but I've been waiting for my audition from Transport for London for several months now - I guess they have other preoccupations at the moment.
Also see recent thread re the cold.
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Busking pitches in London
I work in South Ken. It's good for busking as there are tons of tourists en route from the museums to the tube - give it a shot. You get a fairly high standard as the Royal Academy of Music is just round the corner. I've heard all sorts though - plus in the tunnel you don't get rained on - got to be a bonus!
Is the licence expensive then? I was under the impression that you just had to do an audition and it was only about £30?
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Biddy
Re: Busking pitches in London
Have you applied for tax credit Q? If you declare yourself as a self-employed musician and claim to work at least 30 hours a week while earning under £100 (on average) you get a top up of £41 a week paid directly into you're bank account - extra if you've dependents. If you earn over £100 you will still get something. Expenses such as phone calls, strings, travel expenses etc are all deductible. Best of luck!
https://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/HomeIR.aspx
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by TomR
Re: Busking pitches in London
Bren may well joke about busking in a rubbish bin but here's a photo I took recently in Cambridge (tolerant busking scene by the way)
http://www.geocities.com/pifflegiffle/busker.jpg
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by RichardB
Re: Busking pitches in London
The licence for Covent Garden only costs as much as the performance insurance does. It's mainly for street theatre though... people who throw plates and knives and small children at pigeons, sorta thing. It's nearly 100 quid, I heard. As far as Leicester² goes, the copper who moved me on said it was against council bylaws to busk there, full stop. But another copper just outside Covent Garden read in his little bylaw book that music busking wasn't illegal per se, but obstructing pedestrian traffic, loitering, begging and disturbing the peace were, so if anybody - cop or shopowner or whomever - complained, it's on yer bike, pal. Or jail.
Er, tax? Golly. I'll look into it, thanks Tom!
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
Ha! Richard. Was he a rubbish player?
# Posted on November 21st 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Busking pitches in London
I think he was singing "Where do you go to my lovely?"
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by RichardB
Re: Busking pitches in London
I did once busk many years ago with a string quartet in the South Ken museum tunnel. Got about a fiver in half an hour.
One thing though: there's a list you're supposed put yourself on. (We didn't know, but were treated civilly all the same). Makes sense given there's a large population of hard-up student musicians close by (RCM). So it might be worth your while dropping by and having a chat with a regular just to get the gen on how it works.
I've not busked anytime recently; but my (possibly ill-informed) impression is you'd be most likely to coin it on a weekend amongst the shopping crowds. If not in the centre of London then some retail paradise such as Kingston.
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by Presumin Ed
Re: Busking pitches in London
Don't know much about London these days, but it IS fun to go out and busk!
On Saturday I was watching the Test Match at Bellerive in the company of some Australians, of Irish descendancy, from Victoria. We'd had a few beers and chatted some while, and one of them mentioned a party, and would I go. "Sorry, got to go to a concert" etc....
....eventually "Come on then! Give us a tune!"
I played "Banish Misfortune" once through on a Generation Bb; one of the lads held out a cap, into which $5.85 landed with unerring accuracy and was swiftly followed by 3 glasses of beer ( not aimed, might I add, just there for the drinking)!
And I wasn't even trying to busk!
Brianx
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by briantheflute
Re: Busking pitches in London
Just got back from another stint at Ealing Broadway. I needed to make 4 quid so I could afford a return ticket to Hammersmith to meet Zina. But I've gotta phone Helen to find out what time and where to meet, and the number I've got for her doesn't work... so if anyone knows Helen Roche's mobile number, could you email it to me? It's 12.30pm now... I think I've got about a half hour to play with until it's prolly too late.
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
Damn.Missed 'em. Oh well, at least I still have you guys to keep me amused for the rest of the day
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by Q
Re: Busking pitches in London
Yes - Presumin Ed is right - if you can bear it, busk to the Christmas shopping crowds. I must confess to playing cheesy arrangements of Christmas songs and I made about £25 in less than an hour (thankfully, it was very cold). That was years ago and in Eastbourne (coach loads of northern pensioners on a day trip to the coast feeling sorry for a freezing young flautist I think). The record earning amongst the precinct buskers there was held by a comedy keyboard player who made £130 in an hour (again on a Saturday in the run-up to Christmas).
# Posted on November 22nd 2005 by Biddy
Re: Busking pitches in London
outside o neils covent garden is good
# Posted on November 23rd 2005 by Ripthecalico