📫 LA Musician Monthly Newsletter

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Thinking of sharing your music with the streets of LA?

In general, busking is allowed in most of Los Angeles. Stay on the sidewalk, don’t harass or solicit pedestrians, and don’t amplify your music.

Los Angeles isn’t great for busking. But there’s still plenty of opportunity if you know where to play!

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a number of years and visited countless times before that — let me share what I know about busking here.

🎫 Busking Permits in Los Angeles

While it is rare, there are certain parts of Los Angeles where a permit is required to street perform.

• No permit is required to busk in Downtown LA, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, and LA’s Metro System.
• Permits are required to busk Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Universal CityWalk, Burbank, and at farmers markets.

👨‍🎤 Busking in Hollywood and West Hollywood

Tourists from all over the world come to Hollywood to be entertained and feel a little closer to the stars.

The streets are chock full of celebrity impersonators and side hustlers looking to make a quick buck.

Even though it’s possible to busk in Hollywood, it can be hard to keep people’s attention. It’s loud and chaotic and many performers are fighting for tourists’ money.

Some of the best places to busk in Hollywood are on Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Blvd.

If you’re looking to cut your teeth on LA’s streets, here’s what you need to do to panhandle in Hollywood:

• Do not use any kind of amplification.
• Do not bother pedestrians.
• Stay on the sidewalk and don’t block the way
• AVOID going onto private property.

🏖️ Busking on Venice Beach

In Los Angeles, street performing is legal, and no license or permit is required. That includes busking in Venice Beach.

Any visit down to Venice Beach and you’ll see dozens of performers along the boardwalk.

Painters, musicians, poets, and free spirits all use Venice Beach to play and perform.

There aren’t many formal rules for busking down by the water. But you should use common courtesy.

Performers and vendors have 205 spaces, including five double spaces for larger groups dedicated to them.

Spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Be warned that competition for all spaces is fierce. People will start to hover around their desired spots around 9AM when you’re legally allowed to start making noise on the street.

Selling anything at all (CDs, shirts) will require a permit.

However, you can ask for money in your instrument case.

• Don’t overlap with someone else’s spot.
• Don’t block the shops and businesses.
• Don’t play too loudly.

🎡 Busking in Santa Monica

Another popular tourist spot is Santa Monica's Third Avenue Promenade and Pier.

Santa Monica is not Los Angeles. Even though it’s right next door, you’ll need a permit to be able to perform in Santa Monica.

Here is a link to the street performer permit from the City of Santa Monica.

These permits have many restrictions on performance location and duration.

Pack light because many of these rules require you to constantly move spots.

Read the Street Performer Permit Regulations from the City of Santa Monica.

During COVID, the city of Santa Monica decided to ban street performances after 12 PM to prevent crowds from forming and spreading the virus. That ban has since been lifted.

• Annual street performance permits cost $37.
• Weekdays before noon (except holidays) require no permit.
• You must move 120 feet every hour.
• Every day, you can't perform more than two hours within 120 feet of your previous performance zone.
• Stay at least 40 feet from other performers and vendors
• Keep ramps, doorways, and driveways clear for pedestrians.

💍 Busking in Beverly Hills

Can you busk in Beverly Hills? Yes. Will you want to? Probably not. Here’s why.

Free speech laws make it possible to busk in Beverly Hills. However, you’ll run into many restrictions.

First, you can’t perform within 10 feet of a business’ entrance which makes a lot of Beverly Hills unplayable. There are hundreds of small businesses throughout the neighborhood.

Secondly, you can’t use amplified sound of any kind without a permit. This means no acoustic amplifiers or microphones or electric violins.

Finally, areas like The Grove are private property and busking and panhandling are not allowed.

So while it’s possible to play on the streets of Beverly Hills, it’s unlikely you’ll want to. There are few places to play where you’ll be heard and not get in trouble for blocking a business entrance.

🚆 LA Metro Busking

The LA Metro is another option for performances.

Metro Presents, a Transportation Authority program, hosts free concerts in LA Union Station.

These concerts are planned. But if you want to play music in the LA metro outside of these concerts, the city can’t stop you.

Honestly, the LA Metro is one of the best places to busk.

Metro Busking Tips

• Perform on street-level parts of the station. Not down below near the trains.
• Pre-approved tables only. This means you can’t bring a folding table down into the metro with you to set up a merch table.
• No asking for donations or selling merchandise, including out of your instrument case (they will stop you!)
• Don't block staff or passengers.
• Keep 15 feet from doors, machines, vending machines, stairs/escalators/elevators, offices, kiosks, etc.
• No volume levels are prohibited, but “don’t disturb” is the rule. $75 fine for violating this vague noise ordinance.

🌃 Downtown LA Busking

Busking and street performing in Downtown Los Angeles are perfectly legal. Just like all other parts of LA County, busking on the streets is allowed.

As long as you aren’t blocking anyone or making too much noise, you can play to your heart’s content.

Office workers tend pack the streets during lunch rushes. And when the sun goes down on the weekends, high-rise clubs and rooftop bars take over the nightlife.

Playing on the sidewalks with a unique and captivating set is a good way to capture attention and get a few listeners to stop by.

Downtown, you’ll be playing mostly to LA residents. Tourists usually only wander downtown if they’re headed to see the LA Lakers play or see a concert at the arena.

🎥 Busking in Burbank

Details about busking in Burbank are kind of sparse.

But according to the Burbank government website, street performing in Downtown Burbank is perfectly legal in designated areas. You’ll need a permit to do it.

The city of Burbank found that street performers enhance the experience of walking around Burbank. Street performance is protected under the First Amendment.

The city established rules to protect performers. You can ask for contributions and donations. But you’re not allowed to sell CDs or solicit merchandise sales.

Don’t perform within 25 feet of a bus stop, crosswalk, doorway to an active business or residence, or another performer. Your equipment can’t block people from walking on the sidewalk.

You’ll also have to make sure you meet the requirements of not having too much equipment, not interrupting traffic, and not being too loud.

Apply for a busking permit by submitting your name, address, ID, a description of your act and necessary equipment, and two passport photos to the city.

Get a permit: Apply for Burbank street performer permit.

It’s rare that the Burbank Police will bother you if you’re being courteous as a performer. But if you start juggling chainsaws while pumping out music from 10,000 watt amps, you’ll get shut down pretty quickly.

Don’t play more than 2 hours in any one spot

🗻 Busking in Glendale or Pasadena

According to both Glendale’s and Pasadena’s city codes, they “find that street performers provide a public amenity that enhances enjoyment.” Busking is legal without a permit or license in Glendale and Pasadena.

Code prohibits street performers from performing within 10 feet of bus stops, street corners, business entrances, and outdoor dining areas.

Performers and equipment cannot obstruct sidewalks or car traffic.

The use of dangerous objects or activities that can cause bodily harm is prohibited. Musicians cannot litter, damage public property or affix any items to it.

Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult and have a work permit to perform. Performers cannot leave their gear unattended.

Keep the noise levels low.

FAQs About Busking in Los Angeles

How long should you busk for?

Make sure you have at least an hour's worth of music ready before busking!

If you only have a few songs, people hanging out nearby or shop owners may get angry.

Practice about 20 or 30 songs before you take your act outside and share it with the world.

Can you ask a busker to leave?

Try talking to the busker who is making a lot of noise near your home or business. You can ask them to move farther down the sidewalk or across the street.

Because busking is legal in most of LA so long as you aren’t blocking a sidewalk or the entrance to a business, it’s hard to kick someone out legally.

Being friendly with a performer is the best way to get them to move along.

Do buskers have to pay royalties?

To legally perform a copyrighted song in public in the United States, you have to pay royalties to the songwriter and copyright holders.

These royalties are paid to performance rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI.

As an individual busker, you don’t have to worry about paying these licenses though.

There haven’t been any reported cases of one of these organizations coming after buskers to claim performance royalties for the songs in their catalog. That wouldn’t be very nice!

In some places, cities use busking permit revenue to pay ASCAP and BMI a blanket license to cover all the songs their performers might play.

Do you have to pay taxes on money you make from busking?

Your busking income will be subject to income tax even if it’s in cash. As a self-employed musician, you may be able to reduce your tax burden by claiming expenses like your instruments and even busking permits.