Channel 4’s Big Brother are looking for a busker to appear as a housemate on Big Brother 10. As well as recruiting housemates at the open auditions, the Big Brother organisers always look for some specific types of people to feature in the show to get in touch with directly, and this year they’re looking for a busker.
So, if you’re free for 3 months in Summer 2009 and fancy skipping the queues at the open auditions, get in touch with Dawn at Channel 4 on 0208 222 4558 for a chat.
The Busker Spotlight section of musicalbusker.co.uk has now been updated! Anyone who has been in the Spotlight in the past year will now be able to find their profile online here.
If you’d like to appear in a future busker spotlight, simply contact admin@musicalbusker.co.uk with a couple of photos of yourself (please send these one at a time as sometimes the inbox gets too full to take loads at once!), a blurb about yourself (check the spotlight page for examples of these), and a link to your website or myspace page for more information.
Recently I came across an article from Gosport Borough Council which details a new licensing scheme for buskers. I was surprised to find that not only have the Council introduced a vastly complicated set of guidelines for buskers, but they now also require ALL buskers to have purchased public liability insurance up to the value of £5m before applying for a licence. In contrast to most licensing schemes, this still applies even if you are simply playing a musical instrument.The reasoning behind this is explained by Councillor Dennis Wright of Gosport Borough Council:
“Having Public Liability Insurance is vitally important these days so that in the event of any accident caused, perhaps someone tripping over a music case laid out to collect money, that they have the ability to compensate that injured party”.
I doubt many people will attempt to go through the complicated process of first getting insurance, applying for a licence, then trying to comply with the extremely detailed code of conduct, so in effect this scheme is just a very lengthy way of saying ‘please don’t busk in Gosport’.
Have you ever tried to busk in the Gosport area? Is anyone having problems applying for any similarly absurd and ineffective schemes?
The busking licences section of musicalbusker.co.uk has been updated with three more places where a licence is required to busk:
Worthing – a licence is required in some areas, for more information click here.
Test Valley, Hampshire – the council has introduced a code of conduct for buskers to follow. Find out more here.
Gloucester – the council has introduced a code of conduct for buskers to follow. Find out more here.
