Licenses

There’s a view that getting a permit for busking kind of disqualifies it from being true busking and I tend to agree. It certainly defeats the free spirit of it and limits the kind of music you will experience as it prevents the spontaneous traveling buskers. Some swear by never having bought one. But as you try make a living in your city, licenses become something of a necessity, at least as a supplement. And if it offers cover against the elements then it can be your only option during times of cold and rain. Unfortunately the are rarely handled very well by the districts and often expensive and unattractive offers.

I have only had a small experience with busking back in Vancouver, and don’t recall there being any license, but it was also not something very welcome by the authorities, except for maybe at the waterfront.

The worst: I’m going to single out Australia for this. From having to travel to another town to apply (Byron Bay), to auditions that are booked for months out (Melbourne), they have specially made things hard to get a permit. Sydney harbour was lined with licensed musicians but most looked weary and like they showed up to a 9-5.

The best? Not sure I’ve found that yet.

Germany

Berlin has its own licensing problems. In that the authorities tell you to get a license for each district yet each district office is unaware of how this works. As of yet I don’t know anyone who has one. And it would be quite unaffordable to buy it as no one district offers a good location and one has to move around Berlin to make anything. On top of that most licenses are fairly limited, particularly in regards to amplification which is almost never allowed. In most cases that can be fine but there are legit reasons to have amplification for vocalists. In my case I don’t need amplification but backing tracks from a small speaker I carry, and that is often considered the same and banned. So one has to be stealthy about it.

The most common license in Berlin is offered by the metro transport system BVG for playing in their uBahn Stations (certain stations, certain spots, and not on the trains themselves). It’s not cheap and it’s a pain to get, and warrants its own post/rant here.

The rest of Germany is a mix, but the common method is to offer a license that limits you to 30min on every hour, with a break around midday, and never in the second half of each hour which is intended for moving to a new location. Sounds simple and orderly right? Except that 30min is not near enough time to get your hat going, often taking up to an hour to see good returns. There are some places that allow for one hour but that is also too short. Finding good spots is rather hard, so moving a lot really hurts your chances of income.

Edinburgh Fringe Fest

Maybe worth mentioning because while it’s a festival, any busker could apply for a license and they have tried to keep it fair to be able to give everyone a chance. Spots were handed out by a drawing held early in the day. Personally I don’t do so well with tourist crowds so I had a crushing time, and fared better at busking outside the hours.

Going Rogue

So a lot of buskers boast to never buying a license and playing rogue, jumping in and out of spots before authorities can come and catch them. But that can be stressful if you’re the kind that doesn’t like confrontations or plan to do this long term (now and then it’s fine and can be a necessity). And it’s not always the police you have to worry but vigilant locals that are only too happy to point out the rules. These rules are growing tighter and tighter all over the world leaving very hope for the future of busking. The UK is one such place. Or Galway, Ireland, where busking is part of the touristic charm yet about to get stamped out. Barcelona, Spain, is also known as a must to avoid for buskers because of tales of aggressive policing (instruments taken away).

And for many travellers this really is the only option, as there is often no chance to learn the rules or afford it in the short while they are in the area. So that’s often the way I’ve done it. Be nimble, be polite and if someone asks you to leave, then you leave. With Barcelona I didn’t wish to risk the fines or instrument confiscation, but I did have my bluetooth speaker confiscated in Istanbul which was an interesting adventure to the police station to get it back. Luckily I have not had the problem of fines yet but have had a few warnings. In Hanover they happily provided me with a brochure in German and English and simply asked that I followed the rules (which sadly prohibited my speaker with backing tracks).

When the system is too hard to navigate, you leave a lot of great musicians out of the process because they don’t care to jump through the hoops.

Future Of Licenses

But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. There are places like Milan that have been progressive and have introduced a system that has had a good response from buskers. Personally I have not experienced it yet, but it’s supposed to have a very broad range of hours, is free, and has an online system. That said I have not been able to find recent registration information online so it may be too early in celebrating it. I had sat in to some sessions of musician meetings in Berlin where we were hoping to bring in a similar scheme but as of yet there hasn’t been any outcome that I’m aware of.

Dresden, Germany, has also launched a free online system that should work in theory, but when I was there I wasn’t able to fully test it. The pitches designated weren’t that great and by the time I tried reserving on the spot the time slot had passed so I played without registering. 

Let me know if you know your experience or any positive developments in busking licenses.