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Busking / Street Performance - getting paid

8K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  Jazz Is All 
#1 ·
I'm the sax in the family and my wife teaches singing/guitar/piano. We live in Australia. She occasionally plays at markets for tips at the request of the market organisers. Last weekend she did a few hours of singing with ukulele and scored about $30. The organiser came at the end and asked for the $15 stallholder fee.

If the market organisers want music, shouldn't they pay a retainer to ensure the performer is there? What are your experiences? What's a good hourly take to make it worth showing up?
 
#3 ·
She played there twice and yeah, paid $15 the first time. No wonder they rarely have buskers. You wouldn't get me fronting up and giving hours of free entertainment without at least being able to busk for free.
 
#4 ·

The weekly farmer's outdoor market here at the beach in San Diego pays the bands/entertainers to perform. Don't know exactly how much they get paid; probably not much, but they certainly don't have to pay a stall fee.

I can appreciate that different regions/cities have different ways of doing things, but as a musician I feel we often get taken advantage of. I do see a lot of "we can't pay you but you can pass the hat" type ads for entertainment. Some people just don't get it.
 
#8 ·
It's a quaint country town farmers' market with crafts added in held once each month. No oldwares or junk made in China. It's not bogan really and it's not big. The market is held in the car park of a plant nursery so the owners of the nursery get a lot of extra trade. Their youngest daughter is learning alto sax at a private high school. It's amazing they can't see why they should pay for a bit a entertainment to pump up business. I bet they would see things differently if their daughters became pro musos and couldn't get paid gigs.
 
#9 ·
The best busking I ever did was when we were touring to the UK and I did a few hours in the London Underground. The reverb was to die for. I got heaps of pound coins back when they were worth $2.50 Oz.
 
#10 ·
You are thinking about this as if it might be worth it for you to do. If it is a hobby then even ten bucks is OK...???

I was a vendor at a high profile market for a few years where I sold woodworking. The buskers had to sign up to play and could only play a half hour at a time, but I saw kids with a scratchy violin score a hundred bucks in minutes, one arm guitar whackers and the good bad and ugly. All made more money that I did some weeks. We vendors who paid memberships and fees, worked to set-up, pack-up... hated the buskers. They were sponging off all of us.

It might be that it's just not fair to the regular stall holders that you get a free ride. If the deal is not 'worth' it to you then it's not worth it.

I made a few thousand dollars busking last year downtown. It's like people give me money to practice my tune list. Some days lots of cash, food, drinks and otherwise unspecified goodies. Other days, two bucks. Over all it's worth doing for me.

I know buskers who do it full time, but they pander to crowds. I play bebop, blues and don't care what anybody thinks... stuff gets pretty outside. People still give me money every day and gush all kinds of none sense about how good I sound. Idiots.
 
#11 ·
Been doing it for years! Pays me very well too. But I know when where and what to play. That's very important! Its work. I put on a show and average 40 or 50 and hour. After 3 hours I'm done. I meet great people too. Have been invited to stay in Italy and Mexico before. I do it about 16 hours a month and make about a 1000 dollars. By far the most requested song is the Pink Panther. A week ago I got a 50! Location is everything. I rarely play a whole song because its not necessary. Bebop isn't a favorite. I stick with songs that people know...
 
#12 ·
Hey, I used to busk in Brisbane 3-5 mornings a week with a 7 string guitarist and sometimes with a drummer as well. We used to make up to 150 each every morning, and we got 3-5 gigs a weekend for the 3 years that we operated as a trio under the name Sidewalk trio. We got big enough for the council to pay us a retainer. Took a long time to achieve that. We never played requests that didn't interest us, so we never played careless whisper, or baker street, or pink panther. Who needs a retainer? when you can get gigs? Gigs pay a lot better.

We also had a deal with the Coffee Club in Mooloolaba which was that we would get $50 and a free lunch once a month. That was a very lucrative spot.

I miss that trio. The guitarist moved to Turkey. I haven't found anyone to really replace him.
 
#15 ·
My wife couldn't skip away from the market early because she is our town's orchestra coordinator and is too well know (we only have a population of 5,000). She has only been back to the markets once in 8 months.

The nearest city to us is Wagga Wagga (60,000 population) and they have a number of markets. One market which is on once each month has a duo/trio who get a modest retainer to show up and are given power. A farmer's market (also monthly) has a roster of acts who get a cut of the stall fee - so more stalls more money. Again, it's only a modest payment but enough to ensure that the musos will front up. And if you don't show up you're off the roster.

Personally, I think that music is a must at a market. Even a guitar playing hippie on a blanket or a kid with a scratchie violin doing lesson pieces. But if a market wants to pick reasonable performers and exclude the junk then the market orgranisers should find some sort of payment, even if it's not that much.
 
#16 ·
Here is my 5 cents worth as far as song selections go. Most people can't name more than a few songs with sax. Those songs are obvious and need to be in a busker's set list. Add to that a bunch of songs that everyone will know and there's your set. The result, you get the best tips.
 
#17 ·
Thank you man for the imput. Ive never played at a market but will keep it in mind. Have a mental song list of about 100 tunes but when I play on the street I rarely play more than 10 tunes in 2 hours. Its just not necessary for me. Done this for years and can remember blowing my butt off and not making much. Houston, Galveston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge Austin to name a few spots I have played on the streets. Payed the dues. Its a lot like fishing. Ive made over a 100 and hour and less than 10 and hour many times. Learned what works and what doesn't. I'll be honest. I do it for the money! What do they wont to here? The spot Ive been playing at lately is mostly a young crowd. Average age about 25 to 30. So old standards aren't a plus. Just learned Careless Whisper and Sanford and Sons theme a few months ago and glad I did. It's payed me well. Another change I've made is that I wear slacks and sometimes a tie. You don't want people to think ur homeless. That can be a problem especially with and older crowd. The spot I play now is one of the best I've ever had. There's a club that has live music 5 nights a week right around the corner. Cool thing is that the management likes me. I only play fri and sat nights. Don't know what winter will bring but for for now I'll milk it as long as I can...Chers man
 
#19 ·
When I was 18 a friend who worked in a camera store said that the guys in nice suits usually wasted your time. It was the scruffy guy who you ignored that wanted to part with piles of cash. I think the same applies to busking. Age is important too - don't expect too much from the 16-25 yo.

People who like hearing Careless Whisper are in their 40s-50s now. They only want to hear the 8-bar riff a couple of times and will give you something for digging it out for them.

You need to have the best recognised sax tunes ready for a request because that's almost a guarantee of a good tip. They've been mentioned above. Include a couple of TV tunes - I like MASH and Get Smart, and should relearn Hogan's Heroes. If you want something for the young try doing the horn riff from Can't Hold Us by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and learn to play a bit of each of the parts. Here it is starting from the riff: My sax students salivate over it.

My philosophy for busking is: Just memorise enough to not get bored. Have the rest as sheet music. Play only what is well know. And you will make money. If you insist on doing your practice in public instead of home and do hard stuff that nobody knows then don't get upset if you don't make any money. That's not fair dinkum busking in my book.
 
#20 ·
Glad to meet you soybean. Thank you izitulez. In the past it was always alto. Now I play tenor but sometimes bring the alto and keep it in the truck. Tenor is better (for me) because the low notes attract attention that the alto can't do. If that makes any sense. lol! Song list could include > all of me, crazy, south of the border, yak sax, san Antonio rose, charley parker medley, bob mintzer jazz blues medley, europa, saints, a little home made be bop, ally cat, summer time, mack the knife, misty, take 5, tequila, killing me softly, wave, blueberry hill, simpsons theme ect. Some weeks back a guy with a chick asked me to play some John Coltrain (I don't know any) but I do know My Favorite Things very well. I played it and he tipped me 5 bucks! Told me that that was his favorite Coltrain song! Here's a few more tips on a location. It needs to be quiet. You don't won't to compete with a loud band across the street or noisy traffic. The spot that I play at now is in front of a dress shop that has a very well lit up window at night after they are closed. I can be seen and heard a 100 yards down the street. People here me for about one minute and tip. Also people who do not tip that go to the club around the corner tip when they leave. Show patience and give them time to suck down a few drinks. When they leave they can't resist tipping the sax player
 
#22 ·
I wish I'd thought to add Yaketty Sax. I tried learning it when I took up sax but I sounded crap. Since then, each time I tried it (without any sheet music or recording to go by) I still couldn't do Boots justice so I gave up on it. Time for a fresh look with sheet music that I now own.

As for location, I don't like corners because if you are right on the corner you are in the way and maybe playing to nobody. And sometimes you are just around the corner and people run into you and don't have time to hear you or search for money. I like being somewhere that people can see you 30 metres from each direction. They have a chance to listen to you, see you if you are hot (which isn't me), and feel for a few coins. And I agree that a quiet location helps.

Hey Soulsax, have you ever seen or heard of Sprawl from Houston? About 20-25 years ago I was in a ska/reggae/soul band (from Sydney). We played some California dates and did a gig in a warehouse venue in Oakland the night after Green Day. Sprawl supported us and had so much presence on stage it was like they were shooting a 45 minute music video. They has trumpet, trombone and tenor sax. I bought their cassette which I still have somewhere. They left a lasting impression. I wonder whatever happended to them.
 
#23 ·
Soulsax,


Do you use any PA ?
no I've never used a PA. It's not necessary. (for me) Besides that might bring cops! No cops needed. People like to here a saxophone player that's all about tone. Tone is what gets you attention! The better the tone the more attention you get. The more attention you get the more money you make. Tone is everything!! I didn't won't to play to tonight but needed the money so I played from 11 to 1 am. total take 70 dollars. Fri night I played from 930 till 1230 am, 152 dollars. so go figure. Sat night is usually my $ night. Not this weekend. Have watched several you tube vids of street sax players who are really good playing to a down town crowd and they don't get #@$%!!! WHY? because they play to a 9 to 5 coat and tie crowd . A party crowd will tip u 10 times better than a coat and tie crowd will. Sorta sucks but that's just the way it is...
 
#24 ·
Charging a musician for the opportunity to busk seems kind of low. My limited experience with these sorts of crafts fairs is that they don't often pay, but I've never come across one that charged. Busking success is all about foot traffic ..... if you don't live in a large city, and busk somewhere that a lot of foot traffic encounters, you don't make much. Smaller places can be good if they are tourist destinations. A smallish crafts fair that wants $ 15 up front is probably not a good investment.

Strategically placing your case can make a lot of difference. If you sit or stand where people can see you from a distance, and your case has easy access for them as they walk on by, you can enjoy a great view of the Girl from Ipanema as she strolls by and drops a Toonie on you.

It helps a lot to be loud.


Turtle
 
#25 ·
we got this 50 watt blutooth speaker at the local electronics place that attaches to our ipod and me and my girlfriend both play sax alto and tenor we pretty much shut down buskers in a 5 block radius, traffick noise? I hope you're a full brigade of motorcycles with no mufflers if you want to compete!

mwahahahah

Sorry just abusing our power the city gave us an actual licence to do this lol

We flirt with each other while we play and then pretty much everybody tips us even on a cloudy boring monday.
 
#26 ·
Where do you live that they give permits to busk or even allow it? This city sucks because it is now basically impossible to do it.
 
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