'Unnecessary hassle': Buskers question need for yearly in-person audition, NAC calls it fair way to ensure quality acts

SINGAPORE — To renew his busking licence, 27-year-old Jonathan Goh shelled out almost S$2,000 on a flight back to Singapore from London to attend a five-minute-long audition.

The licence, which lasts a year, is the lifeline allowing him to pursue his passion of performing circus acts and keeping Singapore’s streets bustling.

However, the busking veteran of nearly 10 years considers the process of renewing that licence repeatedly as an “unnecessary hassle”.

“Every year I’m performing the same act over and over again to a panel of judges in an air conditioned room that isn’t like the streets I perform at,”  the co-chairperson of the Buskers' Association Singapore told TODAY.

“I’m sure they are also bored of watching me do the same thing.”

Taking to Facebook last Thursday (April 13) to vent his frustration, Mr Goh — who is pursuing a degree in circus acts at the National Centre for Circus Acts in London — garnered more than 600 likes in a week.

And he is not alone. Three buskers interviewed by TODAY also highlighted several issues with licensing approval process by the National Arts Council (NAC).

Among their gripes were the lack of online auditions, which means that they have to lug their equipment to the audition site, and the duration of the licence.

Buskers in Singapore can perform in public only if they have a busking licence. NAC requires buskers and busker-hopefuls alike to attend a pre-audition briefing in person or online, and then perform during one of the four audition cycles in a year. The auditions are not done online.

In response, NAC said that the audition is a “necessary process” to endorse buskers with its licence, so they need not apply for multiple approvals across various government agencies to perform.

These other licences could include the Singapore Police Force’s Public Entertainment Licence and the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore’s Arts Entertainment Licence.

Beyond that, the auditions ensure that “quality acts” are performing on Singapore’s streets, the council said.

“You aren’t just playing a song and calling it a day, you have to engage the crowd and entertain them… there’s some minimum standards that are expected,” NAC told TODAY.

PHYSICAL AUDITIONS ARE MORE ‘FAIR’ FOR BUSKERS

With their livelihoods dependent on ensuring their licences are renewed on time, having the option to audition online could be a saving grace, the buskers said.

Mr Goh, for one, requires the licence so that he can still earn a living when he’s back in Singapore during his school holidays. Being able to audition online would save him the time and money of travelling back for the paper of approval.

“There’s already a limited number of audition slots. Why waste it on veteran buskers that will perform the same thing year after year… It’s not like we’ll forget how to do our act after a year,” he said.

As for Mr Bryan Wong, 27, who performs various circus acts, having no alternative to the physical audition could mean that he misses out on three months of income until he can renew his licence.

Recalling how fearful he was of contracting Covid-19 before his audition, he suggested that the option of auditioning through video-conferencing could be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Ms Delvina See, a singer in her 20s with 10 years of busking experience, said that the cost involved with lugging equipment to the auditions can be a burden on buskers’ wallets.

“It’s very heavy to lug all my equipment to the audition site with my guitar just to perform a few songs within five minutes… I have to arrange transport, which can be costly.”

In response, NAC said that holding auditions in person “mirrors situations on the street”.

“This will ensure that all applicants, including experienced and emerging talents, have equal access to busking opportunities through a fair judging process.”

It added that holding auditions physically prevents technical hiccups — such as poor audio quality and lag — that may impede a busker’s audition performance.

It also ensures that older buskers, who may not be as digitally savvy, are not left out of auditions.

Buskers also noted that auditions could be improved if held in an outdoor setting to mimic where they would typically perform. One busker noted that the auditions could drum up interest among the public.

NAC said that the current audition site — an air-conditioned room within the National Library along Victoria Street — is used in order to prevent unforeseen weather from halting auditions.

WHAT ABOUT ISSUING LONGER LICENCES?

Aside from the audition process, buskers questioned why NAC could not provide longer lasting licences. They highlighted that the authority had previously provided licences with two-year-long validities before the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also argued that there could be better ways to handle the licences.

One suggestion made by Mr Wong is to implement a tier system where buskers could have longer licence validities based on their years of experience.

As for musician Soo Sheng Li, 35, he suggested having a licence that remains valid for buskers who book a certain number of hours on NAC’s location booking portal system each year, The system allows buskers to book hour-long slots at locations where they can busk.

By increasing the licence validity, NAC could redirect the resources spent auditioning veteran buskers to auditioning busker-hopefuls and improving the busker pool here, Mr Soo added.

There are between 280 and 350 buskers holding a licence at any one time. About half of them are under the age of 35.

NAC said that other jurisdictions such as London in England and Melbourne in Australia grant busking licences that are valid for a year or less.

When asked about providing a longer licence for veteran buskers, NAC said: “We want to keep it very open and fair… if we have separate paths, it may make the young (buskers) fearful of coming forward for the audition.

“We don’t want to separate the group because we do see there could be many nuances with having different tracks… We want to be open to the community and everyone.”

The council added that while it had provided longer licences before the Covid-19 pandemic, some buskers with other commitments found themselves busy and unable to busk and did not want to hold onto the licence.

“If we give longer licences and they do not want to busk after a while, it is also administratively hard to track.” 

HAVE A BUSKER ON THE JUDGING PANEL

Another point of contention is the audition’s judging panel, who buskers said have no experience performing on the streets.

Noting that busking is a “whole different ball game” that requires performers to engage a crowd, to know how to target the audience on site and be versatile, they told TODAY that the auditions should be judged by a veteran busker.

“At least they know what it's like to busk, what are some things to look out for and they can be a better judge of our acts,” Ms See said.

She added that with a busker on the panel, the audition process could be a good opportunity for buskers to get feedback on their craft and improve it further.

Describing the current auditions as “cold” with little interaction, she felt that having feedback after the audition could make the process, albeit a hassle, more rewarding.

When asked about its panel of judges, NAC said that the panel members have a variety of expertise and are familiar with outdoor settings or have certain skills that acts may need. These include musicians, producers, artists and outdoor event organisers.

The panel assesses buskers not just based on their art, but also their busking set-up, ability to engage an audience and confidence among other things.

It added that although there are some who fail the audition — NAC declined to provide a figure because it shifts each cycle — the council works with various partners such as *Scape, a non-profit that supports youth and talent development, to provide training opportunities for busker-hopefuls.

While the overall situation may be peeving for the buskers interviewed by TODAY, they hope that NAC could improve its processes further so that it is easier for them to perform their work.

Ms See said: “Busking is beautiful as it brings colour to the streets and makes people feel happy as they walk through the city.

“But it can be difficult when there are hurdles we have to jump just to perform our art.”