Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I appreciate your thoughtful post. But respectfully, I'm not sure it's practicable, at least in small venues.
Yeah, fair enough. Please consider those ideas as suggestions, available for you to use, develop, or discard as appropriate for your situation.
The whole thing is curious, isn't it? A seller who puts a price sticker on their product doesn't make people uncomfortable. But an entertainer who makes the price for their product completely voluntary, including free, causes people all sorts of conniptions. Does it perhaps hold up an uncomfortable mirror, or is there a social calculation in there somewhere? I don't know. Maybe I could put up a sign "tap the gong if you dig live music" alongside the open guitar case.
I could just be in a small minority of socially anxious people, but for me the hand wringing is largely because there isn't a price tag on the busker's product making it, yeah, a social calculation. There's a notion that people should pay to the extent that they enjoy the music, but that's about as well defined as it gets. How much is appropriate? Is too little insulting? If I've already allocated all my cash on hand to vegetables, is it still ok to enjoy the music? How do I completely decline the transaction without seeming rude?
I have no doubt that you can answer these questions for your own situation, but you can't speak for all buskers any more than I can speak for all passers-by. And seasoned buskers tend to use techniques that pressure people into giving when they wouldn't have otherwise. Not everyone, certainly, but enough that there are those of us who no longer wish to risk engaging with anyone standing behind an open guitar case. You wondered why there were some people who were weirded out at your first performance -- my guess is it's this.
I don't feel bad about the open case. Not one bit. I've paid for a bunch of gear and put hundreds of hours into playing well, singing well, memorizing lyrics and driving to this venue. The volunteers who run the market certainly appreciate me coming out. It's hardly mercenary to give passers-by the opportunity to offset my costs -- provided that they dig the music, and it's my job to crack the code and make sure they do. If they don't, that's their choice and I respect it. No sweat.
Totally. I'm glad that people are enjoying your music, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to figure out how to make some money at it. And it could well be that traditional busking is the best way to do that. Regardless, I hope this helps a little as you work to crack the code.
Good luck!
