Bizarrely, in the news today (17th June 2010) it turns out that Exeter has a policy for busking in the city. Stunning, isn’t it.
Apparently, said buskers have to audition for a place in the city so that they can play! This is to ensure that they are up to scratch and fit with the city.
I’m frankly astonished that councils would have a busking policy, auditioning buskers, probably having an council officer administer the policy and then having various people checking that buskers have a license. What a waste of money. Let the market decide. Bad buskers will not get any money and move on. Good ones will earn money and stay. The public can decide.
Thankfully, Newcastle upon Tyne has a sensible attitude; apparently, it doesn’t believe that busking is something that should be licensed.
Ten years ago my sister was a full time busker. When she came up to visit me from her home in Brighton, we checked with the council what the regulations are, because even back then it was incredibly common for busking to be regulated. Some cities charge a fee for a pitch. Many are free but limit the number of pitches available, because busking in that city might otherwise be more popular than, say, shopping.
I busk with my saxophone regularly in Bradford West Yorkshire, where there is no permit policy. What I will say, is that there is an influx of Eastern block street entertainers, Romany & Albanians mainly, some are talented, but others simply play three chords incessantly all day long. The latter, are really just ‘one up from begging’, for begging is illegal. Maybe this is why some councils insist on auditions / permits, as a means to prevent, what is really a case of glorified begging? Huddersfield have a permit policy, and York does too.