Comments on: Busking in the London Underground

By: Peter Murphy

Peter Murphy — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:03:41 +0000

Disputes aren’t too frequent, the majority of LU licensed buskers are now members of an email group.

Regarding late arrivals under the 20 minutes rule, if the previous busker has
already played their 2 hour pitch, they cannot play for a further 2 hours if the
subsequent busker is 20 minutes or more late. A rule which was sometimes
misinterpreted by some licensed buskers and even certain site managers
formerly employed in the scheme.

By: george de la string

george de la string — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:46:23 +0000

Benny da buska, we should join forces! And “keep the Underground going!” What do you think? It is redicules that nothing is going on. For years now. Does the Underground realize that there is a constant feed of new talents, growing up and coming to the city? These artists don’t have a chance to share their talent like so many others before. Simply put, in our days, it is a new form of discrimination, in my eyes. Everything is put to a halt. For years now.
I persive London differently, as a vibrant town. Therefore, London needs buskers!!! It needs to keep it up, to keep it vibrant, to be a city full of life — and a city of inspiration and one which is full of art! What do you think?

By: benny da buska

benny da buska — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:48:15 +0000

i got back to england last october from sunny australia. i was busking freely and successfully over there. but it was a different story here! having no licence for the underground and licences not being given out due to a lack of sponsorship i was forced to busk illegally. it was hit and miss but i managed to earn a living thanks to the help of licenced buskers. they would give me a heads up of free pitches and unofficial spots to play at. fortunately i have a ‘proper’ job now but would love to get back down there. still there is no way of applying for a licence and i imagine the licenced buskers are still paying through the nose for the premium rate pitch booking line! sort it out L.U. hats off to the busker man!!!

benny da buska

By: Lloyd Morgan

Lloyd Morgan — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:23:44 +0000

Good spot—I didn’t notice this.

I like your idea of disputes dropping to zero and compliments rising by twice that amount.

I presume what they’ve done is taken the new value of altercations as the 100% mark after it falling from a number four times the size (a drop of 75%).

Whatever they’ve done, it’s a very poor way to present a statistic.

By: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:59:21 +0000

“They claim that altercations involving buskers have dropped 300% at some stations” — Does that make any sense? So disputes dropped to zero, and compliments to each other rose by twice the same amount?