(BOULDER) A popular Pearl Street Mall busker is fighting deportation. Contortionist Ibashi-i Brown will meet with INS officials to learn his fate.

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Busking as a musician means being vulnerable. You're standing on the pitch putting yourself out there in front of strangers exposing your personal life. Rarely do you hear any encouraging words.Although singing lifts your spirits, not all buskers sing. We perform songs that inspired us without getting any feedback on a deeper level. To get through hard times, we need to occasionally hear positive words. Mere money in the hat doesn't actually say much except that it's a reflection of appreciation.

The following are 9 things every musician loves to hear from fans, family, friends, and the public. Believe it or not, you're actually making an impact on society regardless of where you are performing.

Follow the link below for a tongue-in-cheek revelation.
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(LONDON) An article in The Guardian examines where the streets have no change - and how buskers are surviving in cashless times.A recent hot topic, the article asks is it time performers turned to contactless readers? After all, dropping coins in a hat is increasingly, well, old hat.

Speaking of hats, they're down in London. Again, society is changing. Spending our money is much more convenient nowadays using plastic rather than carrying around coins and notes. Americans have gone plastic for decades but now it's becoming more of a world-wide trend.

For buskers, touchless card readers are now "the thing" since people are carrying around a lot less cash. With plastic, even if you get robbed right there on the street in broad daylight, the poor crook doesn't have access to your PIN number(s)....

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQRRLU42uY

(OTTAWA) — Buskers in the ByWard Market want the City of Ottawa to see them as performers, not panhandlers, and keep its hands out of their pockets — and their hats and guitar cases.“I’m going to move if they don’t change,” said Paul Perreault, a Cirque du Soleil-trained acrobat.

Just in time for the municipal election, buskers are getting organized in response to a city bylaw that went into effect last spring. The bylaw requires street performers in the Market to pay up to $200 for licences, rotate positions frequently and make do without voice amplification.

In response, buskers have formed an association, endorsed a candidate in Rideau-Vanier and voted unanimously in favour of a proposal to amend the bylaw.

Perreault said the current rules are so restrictive, they’re making top-notch international...

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