(MINNESOTA) The fair city of Minneapolis is now paying buskers and street performers to add culture to the downtown area.Thanks to the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District (DID), streets will be more vibrant as the city encourages entertainers rather than shooing them away.

The DID Street Show pays performers $50 an hour (more if you have a duo or trio act) in addition to whatever they make in tips.

The downtown organization felt that the busking scene could get a boost by offering entertainers a guaranteed payment.

In Minneapolis, busking is legal as long as performers are on public property, don’t obstruct traffic and don’t violate noise ordinances.

But even a great artist can be met with indifference when trying to coax hurried pedestrians to stop, listen and open their wallets.

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(SYDNEY) From hulahoops to didgeridoos, over 260 buskers turned out to break the Guinness World's Record of 230 set in the UK for the world's largest busk. Although not all were authentic buskers with the youngest being 4 years old, they were officially registered as performers who came out to busk for a worthy cause and break the record at the same time.

Performers played for two hours in 100 places as part of the Bondi Winter Magic Festival donating their day's earnings to SoundSchool which teaches music to disadvantaged children.

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Ocean City, Maryland city council passed a resolution limiting it's boardwalk buskers and street performers to two pitches "so everybody can co-exist a little bit better", said Mayor Rick Meehan. The performers lobbied against the the ordinance which would keep them away from store-fronts and benches.

In a written statement that was evidently read to the council, "If it is the intention of the council to eliminate street performing, then I urge them to pass this new ordinance", said busker Alexander Osborn whose reverse-psychology probably didn't help.

The law was passed unanimously by council members. The boardwalk is a well-known beach hangout and visited by over 2.4 million tourists a year. The performers were successful in making one change, however. They can...

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(KEY WEST) It's been brewing since last year when regulations for street-performing were brought up in City Hall. Now, a tourist was recently bitten on the face by a performer's lemur which has triggered a new law requiring entertainers to have a minimum of $300,000 of liability insurance.

The law was designed to bring street entertainers in line with other groups, such as taxis, pedicabs and street food vendors, all of whom are required to have similar liability policies.

Restrictions where you can perform were placed on Duval Street but not past Petronia. The first two blocks of Whitehead and other "pitch" restrictions also go into effect. The yearly permit was raised from $100 to $150 and if there's is a festival going on, no performing is allowed. Performer's insurance is available on the...

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(WWW) In these days of pandemics and wars, what better way than busking to get people's minds off the problems of the world? Buskers are the chosen ones when it comes to this now even more difficult task. Performers all over the world can take heart that they're doing the right thing - especially in these trying times.Most buskers are talented muses from jazz thru hip hop thru classical, Latin, and folk and rock music even playing some blues standards for fans in the know.

Parks can be more open to busking. It helps to know that North Carolina's Busker's Day welcomes select buskers from across the state to play music throughout the Museum Park. These kind of sidewalk attractions can only create a more vibrant community.

"To seek a more perfect pitch", as it were, is part the Busker constitution -...

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