Selling Yourself On The Street - Busking In Montreal

Credit: Viva Frei (Youtube)

So, you blacked out and took a shit in the steam table. Now, the chef wants your head and the GM is calling the police. You’re standing behind the pass, half naked and sweaty. Your mind is racing as the gravity of the situation sets in. Do you still have to come in on Wednesday? When is the next pay? Have you blown your chances with that hot new server? How will you make rent this summer? Whack. You take a head of cabbage to the face as the chef frantically lunges for the japanese knife he bought at the mall. How will you get out of this pickle you have gotten yourself into? I have no idea, but I do know how you can make money busking.

According to the Oxford dictionary, busking is defined as “the activity of playing music in the street or another public place for voluntary donations.” People have been busking for hundreds of years, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of (regardless of what your family says). While it is still seen by some less cultured as a form of public begging, that could not be farther from reality. The effect of performance art on people's perception of public spaces has been extensively written about, and it seems that buildings are only as pretty as the sounds reverberating off them. Close your eyes and imagine you’re in Paris on a lovely summer's evening. You are drinking wine, eating cheese and smoking blended Turkish tobacco from a pipe. You can see individual light bulbs flicker all the way up the Eiffel Tower. Now be honest with yourself, I know you were humming Traditionnel Musette when I mentioned the tower, and that is exactly why we busk! Live musical performances are an integral part of the tapestry which we call culture. (Plus, making a living as a musician gets harder and harder every year, without fail, so why not make a little extra dough?)

If you’ve been there, you’re probably getting discouraged right now, thinking about the bad experiences you’ve had while busking. The time that lady ushered her kids away from your majestic acoustic (totally PG) rendition of WAP. Or the time you spent 6 hours playing and didn’t make a dime, but some random gym bro dropped mystery pills in your case. I hate to be the bearer of good news but these things will always happen while busking. Don’t be discouraged, be good. If you want to make a bunch of money busking this summer then you should start practicing now. Stop looking at busking as a way to practice and maybe make some tips on the side. Busking is a performance and you should treat it the same way you treat each and every performance, with enthusiasm and professionalism.

Credit: Phillippe du Berger

Sure, you can take an acoustic guitar out to a busy street corner and wail on it while singing your vocal cords raw, but the goal is to be heard, not to yell at people. Unless your music revolves around yelling at people of course, in which case have at it, but it should be representative of your sound. In a recent conversation with Toronto songwriter Dany Horovitz, he called busking “a means to get where you want to go” and I agree with him. If you want to be a top notch performer then you need to put in the hours performing. 

It’s suggested to have an hour long set before you head out to face the street. Even though you can usually get away with repeating songs a few times, it’s not a sustainable way to hold the interest of a crowd. Plus, if anyone is sticking around to listen, playing Wagon Wheel on loop is a sure fire way to send them packing. Having a setlist prepared is also a great way to think about your playing instead of trying to think of what songs you know in the moment. Being present and thinking about your playing helps get you in the zone faster. We have all left open mics thinking we stunk because we only got in the zone near the end of the last song. Playing in front of a crowd is hard enough without the added pressure of not knowing what to play next. Don’t make it harder for yourself. 

In an ideal world you can get warmed up before you start but the reality of carrying around music gear often makes this a pipe dream. (Speaking of gear, I have some very strong opinions about that whole industry but I would like Steve’s Music Store to hire me, so I shall refrain at this juncture.) If you are an instrumentalist playing something loud like a cello or a trumpet, you don’t necessarily need amplification. If you are playing a sub 100db instrument or singing along to an acoustic guitar however, you should really invest in a portable amp. If you’re singing, also get a mic and a stand. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be something you think sounds good (you are the musician) and is loud enough to cut through the surrounding noise. Some loud singers can get away without using a mic and more power to them but that’s not for everyone and it removes a lot of nuance from the music in a loud setting. Remember, the goal should be to make money playing music the way you want to play it. Especially because you might not always play exactly what you really want to.

The inner disappointment that comes from playing songs you know people want to hear over the songs you want to play has been present in musicians for at least two millenia. You really can’t always get what you want, and the worst part is that you’re never going to make everyone happy either. What you can do for an easy buck however is learn songs familiar to the average commuter and put your own twist on them. As much as you are playing for your own enjoyment of the music, you are still playing for everyone else. 

Busking is a fantastic way to cultivate your crowd work as well. Never miss the chance to take a mental note of what songs make you the most money or get the most smiles from children. There are challenges with an audience, though. For instance, it’s difficult playing, and paying attention to your surroundings, when people start to clap off-time. Or worse yet, they start having a conversation with you while you’re in the middle of a song! There is always that awkward moment where you’re not sure if you should cut the song short to respond. Are they more likely to tip if you chat with them (probably not, but do it anyways)? Were they in the restaurant during ‘the incident’? Are you going to spend the next 45 minutes hearing about a guitar their uncle once owned? You never really know the answer to any of these questions while busking, but if nothing else you’ll get some interesting stories along the way. To quote Bob Ross, “let’s all go out on a limb, that’s where the fruit is”. So take it from the man and leave your comfort zone behind. 

You know who you can’t count on to leave their comfort zone? Pedestrians. That’s why you have to make it as easy as possible for them to tip. My good friend and veteran Metro violinist Michael Smith (the ginger one) goes as far as to prop his violin case up a meter or so to make tipping idiot proof. You have to be noticed to get tipped. Stand out from the crowd, you can make a flashy sign with your Insta handle and Bitcoin wallet QR code, wear a big red wig or simply stand on a milk crate. A friendly line to encourage tipping is totally acceptable, but you don’t want to force the idea of payment on people, you are busking in a public space after all. It’s not a concert hall and you should be thanking as many tippers as possible. If you can’t give them a verbal thank you, some eye contact and a nod goes a long way to display gratitude. It’s considerably less creepy to wink if you dress the part. 

You don’t have to dress to the nines to perform, but you should put some thought into the image you want to cultivate as an artist. If you are busking regularly people will recognize you, even if they have Airpods in their ear holes. If you have no consistency to your look they might walk on past, even if they previously enjoyed your music. Don’t become just another tree in the forest that can’t be seen! 

Now, none of what I mentioned is useful if you don’t pick a good spot. Seriously: location, location, location. With the amount of pedestrian streets around the city during the summer there is no excuse not to fill them with music. Don’t try and play over others, though, there is no need to start a turf war that results in someone straining a vocal cord in a heated exchange. Or worse yet, spraining a finger.

Circling back now to when the restaurant GM called the police, it was definitely a legal matter. Don’t make playing music a legal matter, it’s really no fun. I’m speaking more to the city of Montreal and STM than you, but it is also no fun to get fined real money. So I suggest checking out these guidelines if you want to busk in places like the immensely lucrative Old Port. Yes, it does cost money to be able to play there but you can also make a killing with the tourists at peak hours. 

Timing is just as important as location. You can play the hallway of Bonaventure station with its beautiful acoustics for a full day and see fewer faces than you might in an hour before a Canadiens game. Play smarter, not harder. 

Speaking of the Metro, don’t forget to sign up. The STM pigs do technically police this but it’s a matter of respect for other performers. Don’t step on each other's toes, you’re all on the same team. Musicians' pay has been stagnant for years now, grocery prices are running wild. Gibson hasn’t made a decent instrument in the past 15 years and it's getting increasingly hard to find good strings. You all share the same plights even if you sound nothing alike, so support one another. 

One of my favorite songwriters, Dale Ross of the Gardeners, just released a dope new single called Cherryville. He and I passed the same 5$ bill back and forth for who knows how long. I’d put it in his case when I saw him busking and he would return the favor when I was playing. The tipping waterfall is a very real effect and it's not that hard to start. If you put money in a busker's case others will follow suit, no one wants to look cheap. So as counterproductive as it may sound, if you really want to make money busking start tipping the buskers you encounter. Please fill this city with music, through both encouragement and participation. The world isn’t always shiny and happy, but we can give it a kick ass soundtrack.