Comments on: Busking : Earnings and Expenses

By: paul

paul — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:48:32 +0000

yeh right..so youre not making pounds eh..either a adult fantasising..or if youre nine..well done mate!!!i am being sincere,not sarcastic!

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:11:01 +0000

This article is bonkers, I’m 9 years old and I play the bouzouki in London and I make between 1,200$-1,500 every couple hours

By: Izzie Howell

Izzie Howell — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:09:38 +0000

Me and my band play are looking to play in Manchester in the next few months, we’re not really botehred about making money, just the practise of playing in public.
I used to sing and play acoustic guitar, the most I ever made (16 year old girl in a large, busy city centre on a Saturday afternoon) was about £40 after about 3 hours. In general it was normally about a £10-£20 in coppers if I was lucky

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:50:59 +0000

I play guitar and sing in towns in Central Scotland. I am pretty good with a varied range of pop, rock and folk. Agree with all the points above about luck and context, and how earnings can vary greatly for no apparent reason. Earnings? Low end £5 per hour, high end £20 per hour. I look to earn £10 an hour, any more i regard as a good day. Spoken to quite a few buskers and reckon im pretty typical. Specialist instruments and talented kids i;m sure may get more, but doubt too many adults playing mainstream stuff are earning much more on a regular basis. Saturday far and away the best if you can get a decent pitch and the pipers stay away!

By: Elliie xxx

Elliie xxx — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:53:50 +0000

Hi me and my mates are going busking hopefully up in London but we don’t know where would be good place to do it. And earn a fair bit. We are raising our money for a big charity trip in the amazon rain forest in a few years time. We would be playing instruments piano clarinet sax guitar and flute. And we can all sing we will be both 14. 15. And 16 years of age. And will also be doing lots of dancing and singing as well. Do you have any ideas of good places in London. And we are aiming to earn at least 150. For a good 2-3 hrs. Do you think this is possible. Please help??
I

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:48:01 +0000

Hi I am living in Germany and I don’t really know why I should suddenly start thinking about playing on the street ,after beaning a drummer in bands off and on for 20 years and now playing solo piano and singing for the last 10 years .I feel I just want to play to the people and let them decide whether they like it or not as opposed to another organized gig. I’m sure it would feel a lot more down to earth, and I would be able to play a lot more of what I really liked to play,and maybe even make some money. I would like to use my Korg stage piano and a mic with a little amp of some sort , I wonder if there is anyone out there doing this sort of set up ,and how they manage it.or maybe it,s to complicated for Busking any way I’m going for it. and thanks for all the information .it was very encouraging PS I’m thinking of playing in Munich, it,s a great city,with a huge tourist turnover.

By: robert h

robert h — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:37:57 +0000

hello. i’m a violin player, i improvise baroque music, like vivaldi or handel.
i plan to start busking next year. i hope for at least 5 euros/hour, but it depends on the people. i live in eastern europe and plan to go to ireland,
i like the chill weather. also, sweden and denmark are busker-friendly,
good only for the warm season, may-october.
i would earn more in italy, especially venice, but i might need a permit, i dont like the hot climate and it’s full of gypsies there.
so, interesting. i am sure the irish love violin music, and to be honest,
the italian baroque style uses the modern tonal system, rather the modal systems of celtic music.

By: chris

chris — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:53:24 +0000

Hi Keir,
Its now 15 months since I retired and started Busking, I do my Busking in eastbourne I always get permission first from the council, I can`t sing and play the Melodeon at the same time, I play for three hours at a time non stop except for a drink and pasty after two hours, The least I have got is £15 the most is £68 But the feedback is worth millions I had had a lot of people in tears playing songs from their past you can`t put a price on that. How lucky I am to have this talant.
Keep entertaining people you can`t beat it. Chris.

By: paul dennett

paul dennett — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:20:45 +0000

will people stop coming out with ludicrous claims of making (at least)! £50 a day.besides indicating either a degree of musical snobbishness..eg.theyre better than everyone else..or a degree of insecurity,it is misleading and frankly insulting to ones intelligence.without blowing my own trumpet,i have been busking for twenty years,playing the acoustic and singing,and i would say im quite proficient.however the most i have ever made was £120 in 3 hours on a xmas eve.i realise that the spot/the mood of the people/the time of year all come into play,but these claims of regularly making 100,s or (thousands a day)!!!!are BLOODY RIDICULOUS.anybody thinking of busking should ignore these comments.unless you have the talent of clapton,the equipment,the best spot imaginable,as a guitarist/vocalist you will (never) make more than £20 an hour (on a regular basis).

By: ivan murin

ivan murin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:01:27 +0000

very interesting stories here..ive been wanting to try busking (singing and guitar playing) for a couple of years now. i still havent come up with the courage to go for it. i dont know the reality of what its gona be like, and what its gona pay. i dont know about some people but for me it has to pay me if im going to really go somewhere with it. anyway, it always comes down to just going for it or not. still, i continue to read these stories and trying to get the guts.