Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomkat
Don't you need a licence or some sort of permit to busk?
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Yes in most major cities.
You need to contact whichever council it is that governs the area you want to busk in. (Greater / Central London Council? I don't know).
I've done it with varying success in a few cities.* The trick is not to really be "good" or "flashy" but to do something *different*. There is a million guys out there with guitars (I assume it's guitar your going to play) busking on the streets and they are all the same. The ones that make the money on the streets are the ones that do something a bit different, preferably with songs everyone knows, while at the same time being totally shit when it comes to actually playing their instrument. Don't play obscure tunes you love, play your own arrangements of tunes in the charts. It's the familiarity that people will latch onto in the back of their mind, while you very probably hate it.
I think busking is refining the skill of getting people interested and paying attention while still being able to carry on what they are doing with out noticing you are there ie getting in touch with their subconscious.
Before you go through all the hassle of a London licence, maybe try your material out somewhere closer to home, see how it goes down solo on the street.
Just my thoughts form experience.
*5 string bass & tenor sax \o/