Busking

[blueeowyn]

There was an article about a famous violinist playing in a not great location for tips during morning rush hour in January. This has led to a lot of discussion in a lot of LJs et al. about priorities, street performers, etc..

ThatLiarDiego mentioned in one comment that busking isn't the same as begging and was very unhappy that some people view it as such. Some have commented how horrible it is that people don't stop and listen to the music and pay the musician for his/her work. Some have commented on the need for someone to know their frame in order to make it. Others have commented about how the frame can validate (or not) a work. Lots of threads, lots of ideas.

First of all, it isn't 'tipping' in the sense of TIPS meaning "To Insure Proper Service" for service of food you have ordered etc.. Now, you may encourage some musicians with tips because they play things you like in ways you like and are approachable in which case, they may be providing a service. But I don't know if it counts as "tipping" the way it does with wait-staff. Then you have the TIPS of the performers at a Dinner Theatre where they are acting as waiters AND performers. Is the tipping for the performance? The food service? Both? Neither? Because they tell you that it is how they make a living?

If someone is really good at something, should they expect to make a living at it? Is it the job of society to provide that living? Even if providing that validation may negatively impact the donor/giver's ability to make a living? If I were to become an artist and ply my trade alongside the bus-stop; would it be right for me to expect people to pay for seeing my art as they walk by? Even if it isn't a style/topic that they want to see? Even if they didn't ask for it? It has been said that street performers are sharing their art. Are graffitti artists sharing their art? Should we reward them for it? What about corner preachers, they are trying to save your soul! There is also the little glitch that some of the places that the performances are done are designed for certain traffic flow; the performer could easily interrupt that flow (by taking space ... and possibly by having people dodge the potential interaction).

Some will say that if you are taking metro, you can just leave 20 minutes earlier and make it just the same. As many friends of mine can attest, when you are juggling family responsibilities (e.g. Day-Care) which cannot be done before a certain hour + bus schedules + Metro may give you the option of leaving MUCH earlier ... or possibly not possible at all to come earlier than planned.

I have seen a few really good street performances (mostly in San Francisco). I have seen some really painful ones in the DC area. I have also seen many that didn't stand out a lot in either direction. I have had the 'fun' of being accosted by someone who was offended that I didn't stop and pay for the privilege of listening to their music. Not that I stopped. Heck, given a choice, I would have had earplugs on. This person made such a gawd-awful cacophony that I wouldn't wish on anyone. *shudder* However, I am quite sure that the person in question thought that they were good. Just as some of the people on Your the One That I Want thought that they were perfect for Sandy/Danny. Just because someone thinks they are good doesn't mean that they are. There can be the lack of reference point (if you don't know what is good, how are you going to be realistic with yourself); and lack of honest assessment.

Now, hat-passing at a Festival is different. In most of those situations, the person had to show some skill to get in (though there are some painful exceptions out there). If a person does a good show, I support paying them. However, the shows that are one long commercial with little (or no show) interspersed with the 'request for money' don't get anything from me monitarily and if bad enough, I will leave.

I guess some of it is venue and perception. I have paid performers in bars/taverns. I have avoided some places that were advertising 'live entertainment' because what I have heard about the entertainment (or heard of the entertainment as I went by) was not to my liking.

Therein lies another problem. What I like to listen to is not what everyone likes to listen to. A good example would be the things that Acroyear70 writes up. I heartily disagree with a lot of his assessments. That doesn't make him wrong NOR does it make me wrong. It just means that we find different things important in the music that we listen to. Some performers at the festival aren't my cup of tea; that doesn't mean that they aren't any good; merely that they don't appeal to me. I don't run them down if people ask me about them but I may not highly recommend them (I usually recommend by genre rather than show ... I figure it is safer that way ... and if pushed, I can truthfully say in some cases that I haven't seen the show this year so I can't really comment).

I don't think lack of stopping to listen is necessarily a bad thing. I don't think that not paying the musician (or whatever) is necessarily a bad thing. We each have our own tastes, opinions, schedules, etc..

As for the busking vs. begging vs. panhandling. Wikipedia has the following definitions:
Busking is the practice of doing live performances in public places to entertain people, usually to solicit donations and tips.

Begging is the practice whereby a person obtains money, food, shelter or other things from people they encounter by request. It is also referred to as sponging, spanging (short for "spare-changing") or (in American English) panhandling.

Dictionary.com has panhandling listed as accosting people to beg from them. Which sounds like a more direct and agressive form of begging.

Where are the lines between busking and begging? Between begging and panhandling? Where are the lines between "Street Musician" and "person playing an instrument on the street"? I could go out and buy an oboe and set up on the corner of a street, open the case, put some money in, and make noise on the oboe. Would I be busking? Begging? Annoying? (OK, I can pretty much guarantee it would be annoying ... I've never played a double reed instrument in my life and I suspect what I do know of single reeds wouldn't translate that quickly).