Hi folks,

My name's Steven Lockmoore, I'm a musical busker from Leeds in the north of England.

A trailer for a film a couple of guys made about me and the busking scene in Leeds just went online yesterday. I'd love it if you could take a look and, if you like what you see, share it around with your friends. It's called Busking Turf Wars!

I'd love for the film to be seen around the world, because it shares a topic that is very close to all of our hearts: busking!

Plus, it's really fun to watch!

You can see the trailer over at the film's Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/BuskingTurfWars

I hope you enjoy!

Steven Lockmoore (@busker_steve)

A man attracted scores of curious onlookers when he performed the highly unusual stunt of inflating balloons with his eyes during a special show in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, last Thursday.

Pin Zui (stage name) wore a pair of glasses with a plastic pipeline linked to the balloon and drew wild applause from the crowd after fully inflating it.

Pin, a member of China television Guinness art troupe, performs his stunt in public in many cities around the country.

He is said to be the first person able to use his eyes to blow up balloons on the mainland.

(China Foto Press)

An article at PS Audio has some interesting anecdotals on the world of busking. Likening it to theater, the "stage" is actually the busker's pitch where the performances happen. The article goes on with a brief yet up-to-date history of busking including virtual or electronic busking.Daniel Bacchieri points out that “digital platforms are powerful tools capable of transmitting local artists to a global audience. All the world’s a stage and buskers can make it big in a connected world. In the past two decades the audience for street performers has grown from dozens to millions thanks to sharing on social media like Facebook and Twitter, on digital platforms such as YouTube, and streaming services including Spotify.”

Dr. Paul Simpson, a professor of human geography at the University of Pl...

[ Continued ]

(WWW) An extensive article by Ziggy Samuels at TheBrokeBackpacker.com has what is probably the most comprehensive directions in recent years on beginning busking.Recently updated, it covers chapters such as What Does Busking Mean, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Busking Setups, How to Busk, Picking Your Pitch, Busking Tips and Secrets, and Just Go Do It!

"With this busking guide in hand, you’re gonna learn both how to busk and how to do it right! That is why you should learn how to busk because it’s an adventure", says Ziggy. He adds, "Busking brings joy to people. It brings entertainment and music to the streets. It makes people smile."

Some interesting observations are also mentioned such as How Not to Be A Knob since "not all buskers are saints - some can be right tos...

[ Continued ]

(from the You've got-to-be-kidding-me Department)
One of the themes of 2009 was that collection societies around the world went nuts trying to charge for anything they possibly could while also trying to increase the rates they could charge. Even banks went wild with their hidden charges.

Remember how one collection society wanted to charge a woman because she put on music in public for her horses? Or how about the woman who worked in a grocery store who was told to stop singing while stocking the shelves or the store would have to pay a performance fee? And, of course, we had ASCAP trying to claim that ringtones were public performances, and mobile operators needed to pay up -- beyond the license fee that was already paid on the recording.

SOCAN, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, has been no exception pushing for drastically increased rates...

[ Continued ]