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Per Bhvishya Patelmoney team

We spoke to three street artists to find out what it’s like performing on the streets of the UK.

Amir, 29, came to the UK from Pakistan with a passion for music

Amir Hashmi moved to the UK in 2022 to study, said he started playing in central London 10 months ago because “music was his passion”.

“In Pakistan there are a lot of problems, so I decided to leave and move to London. I feel I can do better in London than in my country,” he said.

He said that singing was now his main income, but he sometimes worked in warehouses to make ends meet.

“I never started this for the money, I started it because it’s my passion, but now this is also my main job,” he said.

Amir, who often performs at the capital’s Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Street, said he often returned home with just £10-15 in his pocket after a day of performing.

He said: “I often sleep without food and sometimes I sleep on the road surface when I have no shelter.

“I don’t have my own place to live, but I have friends who often let me stay with them. They don’t charge me rent – ​​they look after me.

“Sometimes I do private shows to make money, but it’s very difficult because the cost of living is increasing. If I go somewhere, most of the time I prefer to walk. I walk with my speakers and carry my equipment.”

Despite his financial difficulties, Amir said he wanted to continue performing on the streets as his “goal was to make people happy”.

He said: “In busking, there is no stage and you can just start performing. Whenever I’m performing, I connect with the people who have come to listen. If I feel like people aren’t enjoying it, I change the song and try and do them happy.”

Earlier this year, Amir recorded a song with Neha Nazneen Shakil, a Malayalam actress from India, who approached the singer three months ago on Oxford Street.

“I wrote this song 12 years ago and after all these years my song has now been recorded in London,” he added.

Jade, 24, left retail to perform

Jade Thornton, from Amersham, started performing in 2017 with a friend after leaving college at 17 and quickly realized it was something she enjoyed doing and could make a living from.

She started working full-time in late 2018, but when the pandemic hit she described becoming “unemployed overnight” and having to take retail jobs to support herself.

“I chose not to go to university – I just thought it wasn’t for me so I went straight into some part-time jobs in retail,” she said.

“Hats off to anyone who works in retail – it’s one of the most tiring jobs. People who work in retail don’t get as much respect as they deserve.

“Some of the clients I was facing weren’t that type and I thought it was making me unhappy, so I thought ‘if I don’t leave now, when?’”

As the global economy slowly began to recover, she decided to leave retail and pursue music full time in 2022.

“It’s hard to switch off – I perform, but I’m constantly messaging clients, writing setlists and learning songs,” she said.

When it came to finances, Jade said there was no average for how much she could earn, but it could range from £15 to £100 a day depending on a number of factors.

“It depends on the time of the month, whether the sun is out, whether people have been paid, whether Christmas is coming or whether Christmas has just passed,” she explained.

The musician said she initially struggled when she started performing, but her parents always supported her.

She said: “You obviously get a few questions from people asking ‘are you sure you want to quit your job and sing in the street?’

“I lived at home for a long time and I’m grateful that my parents supported me in that way because I know not everyone has that opportunity.”

Although outdoor acting is now Jade’s full-time job, she said some months were harder to make money than others.

“To be brutally honest, in months like January and February, it would be very difficult. This year I had enough shows in December to cover me in January,” she said.

“Last year, from June to July and December, I didn’t need to go to the street because I got a lot of shows through the street. I’m part of many online agencies and I also do a lot of shows in pubs, weddings, birthdays and other events.”

Jade noted, however, that the cost of living crisis has made things more difficult.

She said: “A few pub gigs I’ve done have been canceled because they’ve had to rethink their strategies, but if someone cancels, I can just go out and sing. COVID too – with COVID I was unemployed overnight.”

The young musician went on to say that she was “so grateful” when someone tipped her and even small gestures like sitting, listening or just smiling were “coins in themselves.”

“It’s escapism for me as a singer and also for the audience,” she added.

“Children also have a lot of fun listening to street performers and some may not have the opportunity, for various reasons, to go see live music, so if they can come across that on the street and it can spark something that is a wonderful thing. If you think about it, I’m a small part of it.”

Charlotte, 34, longtime street artist

Charlotte Campbell, 34, who often plays along Southbank or on the London Underground, said she started playing during the 2012 London Olympics and although “performing used to be enough”, more recently she has had to do more shows at night.

“A typical day is usually a street performance until around 6pm and then an evening show – 8pm onwards,” she said.

“I could probably still make a living busking, but I’ve been doing more paying gigs since the pandemic because everything has become so uncertain. I think the uncertainty has just persisted now – that seems to be the way of life now.”

The musician said tips for her CDs, which she displays during her performances, range between £5 and £10 and in the current cashless climate, a card reader is “essential”.

She said she pre-sets her card reader to £3 when playing on the Southbank and £2 when performing on the London Underground “because people are in a rush”.

Although she described her earnings as a “trade secret”, she said that street performers’ income has “definitely decreased”, but this was due to a few factors – the pandemic, people carrying less cash and the cost of living crisis.

“Also, a lot of fields have closed, which means there are a lot more street artists trying to compete for a spot, so all of these things have impacted my life as a street artist,” she said.

“I would say that even though my income comes mainly from street performing, I have had to subsidize it with more paid gigs than before. I just haven’t felt as safe in my life with street performances in the last two years.

“Most of the shows I play are booked by people who have seen me playing, so playing indirectly is my whole career – if I didn’t play I wouldn’t get the gigs I do at night. So playing directly and indirectly is my whole career. the income.”

Despite the uncertainty, she said it was liberating to be able to go out and perform for people in an intimate way.

“You are not on stage and there is no separation between you and them. It’s a really great connection you can make – I want to be able to maintain that,” she added.

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