As a former NYC subway musician, I found this recent Washington Post article very interesting. They experimented by having Joshua Bell perform in a DC subway – “one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made.”
They even include videos, which is great:
I like this: “To get from the metro to his hotel, a distance of three blocks, Bell took a taxi. He’s neither lame nor lazy: He did it for his violin.” It cost about $3.5 million! I would never take that to play in the subway.
Overall in 45 minutes he made about $32 (not inluding the one person who recognized him and gave $20). It’s more proof to me that playing music in the subway is a hustle. You have to play the popular stuff that people know and you have to put on an act.
A lot of it has to do with location and time, too. Everyone is rushed to work in the morning with no time to stop. If he’d done it in the afternoon, or after work, and at a place where people are stopped and waiting for a train, he surely would have done better.
As Joshua Bell found out, it is a humbling experience. Basically everyone ignores you (if you’re lucky).
“Actually,” Bell said with a laugh, “that’s not so bad, considering. That’s 40 bucks an hour. I could make an okay living doing this, and I wouldn’t have to pay an agent.”
Yeah, I’d like to see what he says after playing for 8-hours a day, 5 days a week, dealing with cops and crazy people and thieves and drunks – in a dirty subway station. It gets old fast.
But I’d still recommend trying it. It humbles you, which is always a learning experience. And you get to know people. Besides some of the a-holes, there are a few very generous, kind and good people in the crowd.
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