How to be a successful busker

Busking

Summer provides the richest time for musicians to make money from impromptu outdoor performance. Experienced buskers tell David Kettle how they go about it, and why the rewards can be greater than you might expect

If you pass someone playing a stringed instrument for money in the street, or in a station, what’s your reaction? Do you think, ‘Poor guy – he’s obviously not good enough to get proper work elsewhere’? Or maybe, ‘It must be so hard for her having to play the same boring things all the time’?

Speak to anyone who busks and you’ll find that there’s a lot more to it than you might have first assumed, and probably that it’s more satisfying too.

If you’ve never considered street performing before, since summer is upon us, maybe...

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