MARC GUNN: Italian Busking

Marc Gunn is Celtic American Musician and Podcaster. Good food, good drink and good company. Folk ballads, Irish drinking songs, fantasy, Sci Fi, and cats on the autoharp. Embrace independent Celtic music!

Saturday, August 05, 2006

After my recent blog entry on busking in Italy, I got a reply from a fellow Renaissance festival entertainer, Vince Conaway. He had this to say about Italian busking:

I just ran across your July 16 post on Italian busking. I'm going to be busking in Italy next June and July based on trials I made while touring Europe with the Aerial Angels this month. Regulations are really lenient (this from talking to both buskers and cops), with "permit" laws very slackly enforced. The penalty for busking without a permit is..."move along", and is generally only used against buskers who are deemed a nuisance. Also, the police do not enforce permits, and the officials who do don't have powers to fine or arrest.

As far as effectiveness, I'd recommend doing some busking at home first. Faires are the obvious beginning. Also, busking in downtown Cincinnati isn't all that different from busking in Florence, and the key skills of getting a crowd and getting them to give are the same. The biggest challenge I faced in Italy was that the audiences I had were really unimpressed by Celtic music, but fortunately they really liked my original material.

I would definitely recommend it, but you might want to give it a trial before going full-on. I'm thrilled that I did the busking while overseas for other reasons (performing at festivals with the Angels) because it gave me the chance to experiment without needing to live off my efforts. I just wish I'd brought more CD's - the ten I did bring went very quickly (I'm looking into alternative packaging to make it easier to bring them overseas next year, and IIRC - I'm going to double check - customs in Rome didn't care about merchandise while the customs officials elsewhere, particularly England, give you the third degree over any hint you might do any sort of work locally). Take a vacation, bring the autoharp, and give it a shot!

-Vince

Thanks a million Vince! That is some great information.

I definitely need to start with just some local busking before I'll be ready to do so in Europe. Need to get my busking chops up. Outside of faires, I've only been busking once in Heidelberg, Germany, quite timidly in college. But I wasn't playing in a scheduled location so was asked to move along.

CD sales are definitely a big plus for buskers. I understand in Italy CDs are legally mandated to sell for 20 or 30 euros (I forget which), basically $30-40. Course the cost of living is high. But that'll definitely allow you to survive quite well in Europe.

Even though most CD's in Italy are pretty expensive (20-30 E), I was selling (and will sell) mine for 10. Selling cheaply to many has treated me well, especially since most of my customers were American tourists who would find 20 euros excessive.

Feel free to post my comments, it's my pleasure. I'm planning my next trip already, and if you find anything really helpful I'd appreciate anything you could forward on. See you in a few months!

Always great information. Thanks Vince! Check him out at www.VinceConaway.com and on Myspace at myspace.com/vinceconaway.

Love to hear comments from other buskers too.

I have to say, I'm more anxious than ever after hearing him write. I just need to get out there and start busking. I find myself just very apprehensive about it though, and I'm not sure why.

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