Busking can be a good source of income?

You're telling me that a kid, let's say 7 years old, been saving for ages and now the banks want to take 5 dollars away just for letting him use a machine? How come ATMs don't work that way then, I'm really just curious.

depending on ur account type
if ur account is those for kids, most bank will waive off the service charge
 
Yes, banks do charge a fee for coins deposit.
for example, http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/deposit/additionalinfo/priceguide.pdf page 6: over the counter is S$1.50 for every 100 coins or less, and must be sorted to all the same coins, and if is via the coin deposit machine, it's S$0.0075 per piece, and both are irregardless of denomination, as in depositing 10 cent coins incurs the same service charge as depositing $1 coins.
they also noted that the service fee will be waived for children's accounts so at least the kids can still save deposit their coins from their piggy banks.

what my father do, usually after collecting alot of coins from his customers, he changes it with a 7-11 in a petrol station that he often goes. but before that it's understood that you should sort it to the same denomination and perhaps in packets of $10 or $50.

once my dad collected $50 worth of 5 cent coins = 1000 pieces of them... had to change it $10 by $10...

As for Hickey's question on whether the income from busking is taxable, i'm not too sure, but i will think it is taxable, since it is an income afterall.
but singapore's tax rate still reasonable lah, you will only be taxed if your annual income hit $20k.
 
DCK : actually these days I've seen 7 year old kids holding blackberries and iphones. they don't need to "save" .... and i'm using my wife's k850i until it blows up then I'll reuse my old k800i...

the "coins > notes" conversion is due to some kinda "service". like a tips thing for the banktellers I guess.
so the fast way is to go to hawker centre or mcdonalds change with them.

True ah... Times have changed. Lol
 
May I know, sir, where is Your frequent busking haunts?

i like to play next to bukit batok mrt. i stay redhill. sometimes i busk at redhill mrt also. As i'm currently teaching in a music studio, i still busk but not as frequent. It's quite hard to catch me now. I play solo classical pieces like bach's lute suite no 4 prelude, sakura theme and variations, la cathedral, Gran vals (nokia waltz originally a classical guitar solo) and many others that are class materials from the book Christopher Parkening Guitar method.
 
really good intro of busking.

but can i ask something?

when you say if its on a good day, you can collect $150 while playing 6 hrs. but is the $150 in coins??

because if i pass by a busker, i only see people give coins.

It really depends... The biggest note i got is $50 but only once. Two dollars are the most. You'll get five and ten dollar notes too. $5 and $10 are not as much as the two dollar notes. If you play really well, you may get 3-4 pieces. But the coins can really add up alot. The coins can have as much as 50percent or more for the total earnings.
 
is busking without licensed illegal??haha...
veri interested 2 know abt it...

Something important i forgot to add in. License from the National Arts Council is FREE OF CHARGE. you just need to go for audition. Their auditon is held every 2 months. That means there is only six audition in a year. There's nothing to lose. For your information, there are people who busk without license. You won't get caught but if the police come,you just tell them your new license is being processed. Your old one is with NAC. haha
 
i've always wanted to do busking. but never had the courage to. haha.

I tell you a secret. The only way to learn performing is to perform. You will never have the courage to do it if you don't do it. Busking is a very good way to train yourself in performing.
When i first started, you think it's easy for me? I'm so scared at first. When u make a mistake, u will feel like hiding. Some more you amplified your playing. It was not easy. But when you busk, you'll feel very natural as you do your performances.
Concentrate your music playing. Use your ears to guide you as you play. Music is a listening art. The most important part of a musician is the ears. I'm more confident in performing now. u can do it too!
 
i like to play next to bukit batok mrt. i stay redhill. sometimes i busk at redhill mrt also. As i'm currently teaching in a music studio, i still busk but not as frequent. It's quite hard to catch me now. I play solo classical pieces like bach's lute suite no 4 prelude, sakura theme and variations, la cathedral, Gran vals (nokia waltz originally a classical guitar solo) and many others that are class materials from the book Christopher Parkening Guitar method.

Ah.. Redhill MRT? I take the train back home from work in the weekdays.

Hope to catch you busking there, if you ever found time again to do so :)
 
haha very interesting post. clears up many of my doubts of my future if i'm going to play music as my main source of income.

and yeah busking seems like quite an adventure. ahaha
 
oh my god, dude, so you're that classical guitar guy I always see at BB and Redhill! Haha! I've seen you a couple of times when I was together with my friends after a jam! You play some really good stuff man!
 
I'll briefly go through how you can obtain a busker's license or letter of endosement. I know of two methods to obtain the license.

1. Download application form from home computer, print then mail to them.
(Remember ur photos.) Copy the url below to download the application form.
http://www.nac.gov.sg/static/doc/eve/busking_application_form__individual_.doc
2. Go down personally to the 3rd floor (address below) and complete the same form with your photos.
For more information, visit:
http://www.nac.gov.sg/eve/eve09.asp

National Arts Council
140 Hill Street, #03-01,
MICA Building, Singapore 179369
Tel : (65) 6746 4622
Fax : (65) 6837 3017

(below are text copied from nac.gov.sg)
Complete a busking application form & send it back to NAC.
NAC will call to inform you of the date & time for the audition.
Pre-registration for the audition is required.
Auditions will be held on the following dates from January 2010:-
8 January 2010
1 April 2010
2 July 2010
1 October 2010

Well... now they have limit their auditions to 4 times a year. Better get yours soon haha. You never know when you'll need it. You never know when you need to practise performing. Good luck for your audition!
 
^if that small kid at orchard can play his full drum set, i'm sure there's not too much restrictions unless someone complains.
 
^I hope it doesn't go "that kid small kid we give chance lah he wanna play in orchard road show his talent, but you big size already..erm...cannot la"
 
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