Busking the Underground

The London Underground (LU) Busking Scheme is a hit with performers and the travelling public. Passengers enjoy more than 100,000 hours of live music, performed every year by professional, talented buskers.

Licensed buskers have a unique audience of around 3.5 million Tube passengers every day.

Many passengers show their appreciation by dropping a few coins in the hat, knowing that the buskers are licensed and legitimate because they perform on one of our branded pitches.

The scheme has attracted international media interest and some buskers are regularly booked for events and recording sessions; some have even gone on to perform in front of royalty or work with established musicians ranging from Simply Red to principals of the English National Opera.

The lure of performing on the Tube has also attracted some big names: Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Bob Geldof and Katherine Jenkins have all played on the Underground’s stage. The BBC One Show went along to find out what being a Busker on the London underground entails and what it takes to audition for one of the sought after ‘Busker licences’. 

Hannah Wise from Chinacake Productions was commissioned by the BBC to work on this One Show VT as a camera operator for the day.