The sounds of feet shuffling, coins clinking and people chatting drown out all other sounds every morning in Granville Station.
The livelihood of TransLink buskers such as Neufeld and Jackman is under threat. TransLink is involved in a licencing dispute with SOCAN, which administers performing rights. This issue could push TransLink to downsize or shut down the TransLink Musician Program entirely.
SOCAN, a private organization, said that buskers must pay to perform copyrighted music in public.
The Translink Musician Program started in Vancouver 23 years ago. It allows buskers to purchase a permit for $75 a year to perform in SkyTrain stations.
"It's just a nice thing to do, and our customers appreciate it," said Bill Knight, the community relations officer at TransLink.
Rosa Paredes, who commutes from Surrey to downtown five days a week, shows her appreciation for buskers by offering spare change.
SOCAN informed TransLink last year that its buskers are infringing upon performance rights that protect artists who create original music.
As the instigator, Translink is required to pay licencing fees for every busker who performs at every station. For the existing SkyTrain locations, TransLink will have to pay between $32,000 to $40,000 a year to SOCAN.
Toronto has allowed buskers to perform in subway stations since 1980. SOCAN could not comment on its involvement due to privacy issues, but Mary Cuckovic, the special events supervisor at the Toronto Transit Commission, said SOCAN approached the TTC in 2003.
"We were under their radar all these years. All of a sudden, they found out about our musician program," she said.
TTC buskers pay $150 for permits, she said, while the transit body covers the $22,000 required by SOCAN.
TransLink argues it does not have the money to pay SOCAN.
TransLink wants to settle this issue with SOCAN by the end of the year. If it passes on the fees to performers, Knight said, permits could increase to as much as $1500. If the program is downsized, the only locations available for performers who prefer to busk indoors would be Granville, Burrard and Waterfront.
For those buskers who already live on the fringe, raising the price of permits and facing greater competition for performance space could have dire consequences.
"It can't work out well, no matter what happens," said Angie Inglis, a musician who used to busk at TransLink locations for a living and continues to do so sporadically. She wrote a letter to SOCAN (PDF) in November.
Inglis, whose busking career allowed her to launch her first CD in 2001 and to perform internationally, said that the survival of the TransLink Musician Program has less to do with buskers than it does with the public.
We wanted to clarify that TransLink does not collect $30,000 to $40,000 from buskers, so the amount that SOCAN wants to charge is by no means 'a cut' of the dollars we collect. There have only been very small fees charged to cover the administration costs of the program.
Thank you for bringing that to our attention, Ken. Changes have been made on the article to clarify the fees issue.
The audio clips really bring this story to life.
I'm guilty of rushing past way too many buskers, both here and in Toronto.
I've made a mental note to stop the next time I hear talent in an unexpected place.
That boy is so awesome. I love his music so much!
So you win the limbow.
Scrap the busking contest, it dose not serve any useful purpose. All it does is give the ones who are in charge of it, a chance to host some show. You can call it the "Vincent Gonsalves Show"! Just scrap it and give permits to whoever wants them. There no way an artist could cram a 90 minute performance into 5 nervous minutes.
Waive responsibility for whatever works the artist performs.
Set a dress code and a noise level and a list of guide lines and let the artists do their job.
Many street musicians,including myself play our own original music, or material that is in the public domain. This Socan initiative is draconian! I would like to see their books so that we can find out just how much of the take goes to songwriters, and how much goes to administration and salaries. I am proud to be a Translink Busker. I love the program enough to travel from Nanaimo on a regular basis to perform. We are all auditioned, have criminal record checks and participate in a yearly workshop. The next thing you know Socan will be making the City of Nanaimo and others pay for the busking spots on the street. busking is a hard enough job to make a living at without Socan taxing poor atreet musicians!