Weekday rush hour is always a lucrative time to be in London, so try playing from 7.30am to 9.30am or 5pm to 7pm, as these hours are the best option for attracting larger crowds. Keep in mind that many London commuters are often in a hurry, so some may not be as interested or intrigued as they were at any other time. However, due to the high number of visitors, it is always a good time to go bankrupt. Many other parts of the country have either introduced PSPO to control road activities or have considered them « anti-social behaviour ». A hint of improvisation will make your performance more personal and exciting, but it`s just as important to have a healthy supply of well-rehearsed songs to work on in a busking session. This includes creating regional guides for busking, covering topics such as choosing your location, volume, selling music, and problem solving. In the UK, it is perfectly legal for anyone over fourteen years of busch; However, in some areas, British street musicians are heavily regulated by street music restrictions and laws. In London, you need a license. For example, you can get a street music license in London. Unlike street musicians in your hometown or a small town, the subway only gives you a few seconds to connect with your audience. If they like your music, your audience may just slow down as they walk past you.
However, there are ways to connect with your audience in a short period of time, and London`s best street musicians are no strangers to this. Thanking people when they throw change in your concert bag will help. You may need a street music license from the municipal government to perform in some venues. Therefore, it`s important to research the system in your area before heading out on the street – or risk the embarrassment of being challenged by a mid-performance official! Find out if you need a street music license for the area where you want to bus. Busking itself is legal on public lands, as long as no other laws (or ordinances or local ordinances) are broken. From time to time, you see professional musicians like X Factor, who are absolutely unimpressed by the tired eyes of bored judges. That`s because if they`ve ever bathed in London, they`ve done this line dance before. To get a free permit for the metro, you must audition in front of a jury. If you pass the audition, you can win a seat in one of the 37 bus locations at 25 different stations in the city. Don`t worry if you don`t succeed – even the Pogues didn`t pass their audition at Covent Garden. While most places in London require a permit, there are places like Camden that simply don`t.
Be sure to check this before setting it up. While it is legal to perform on public property, restrictions may apply, but are not necessarily limited to: making noise, blocking public roads (pathways, open pedestrian streets), posting payment instructions, street commerce, or vehicular traffic in certain areas during certain periods. London is very accommodating to its street musicians, as you can let off steam on almost any public property in the city, as long as you`re over 14. Some places have their own laws; For example, playing music in Camden or Covent Garden requires a special license (see below), and there are only four places where street musicians are allowed in Hillingdon. To avoid legal trouble, don`t assume you`re on public land – that`s not always easy to say. You can ask any street musician or neighborhood shopkeeper if you ever know if you`re playing on public or private property. There are a variety of fantastic places to play in London, but some of the larger ones are outside tube stations or close to tourist attractions where there will be plenty of travel and public transport. And if tourist and suburban areas aren`t your scene, try going to a public park to get away from it all. Metropolitan Police Act 1839 s54 This archaic law – which also bans hang gliding and sledding in the capital – was only used in 2014 to arrest street musicians in Leicester Square for allegedly illegally « soliciting money or alms ». They were the band King`s Parade, winners of the mayoral contest for young street musicians, and were released without charge.
Read the Busk in London Buskers code at buskinlondon.com – lots of practical and useful tips to help you avoid problems. Be engaging – no one stops for the miserable-looking artist who doesn`t look up from their instrument. Write a few lines of « templates » that you can use to talk to the crowd (remember that after a short time, they move on so you can repeat a line!), compliment your audience, talk about your location, make a joke, be polite, be friendly. For example, 595 of the 2,200 complaints concerned an increase in busking after 9pm, which could be dealt with under existing UK laws (e.g. section 62 of the Pollution Control Act 1974). Are there any promotional tips you have on busking? What should I take with me? While you may be tempted to sell CDs or your branded products during the performance, the laws surrounding street trading are completely independent of the regulation of street music.
