Found this on Reddit at r/Busking . Local authority regulation doesn't get worse than this.

Cliffs of Moher [Busk.Co newsletter] Ireland

** Cliffs of Moher

Making life bad for buskers since 2007**

"In some ways it had become an easy way to make money. You go up there in the middle of August with a tin whistle and whether you can play or not, probably some people will throw you some money in the hope you might go away and stop playing.”

— Gerard Dollard, Clare County Council


Hi all,
Prepare to be annoyed. Last week I picked up "Music on the edge: Busking at the Cliffs of Moher and the commodification of a musical landscape", a 2013 paper by Adam Kaul that describes the most exploitative conditions of any licensing regime I've heard of.
First a little background.

The resplendent, moss-covered rock faces of the Cliffs of Moher, located in County Clare in the West of Ireland, are one of the country's most recognisable tourist attractions. 1.6 million people visited in 2019, but the cliffs have been drawing tourists for centuries, and buskers have been there for generations.

About two decades ago, the local council set up a subsidiary corporation called "The Cliffs of Moher Centre, Ltd" (CMC), which was promptly given a contract by the council to manage the land and build a new visitor centre. In a way, the council was awarding itself the right to treat the land like private property.

[pic 2] Image courtesy of cliffsofmoher.ie, under the title "Failte Ireland’s Service Excellence Programme’s Business Award 2020"
In 2004 CMC began handing out "trespass notices" to the street performers, essentially arguing that the land was now private property (keep that in mind as it will be important later).

When news broke of their actions, CMC representatives tried to discredit the buskers, saying they were of a low standard and needed to be vetted. The press took them at their word. So, when a 2007 court order put an end to all unlicensed busking, article headlines included "Tuneless buskers banned from Cliffs of Moher" (Irish Examiner) and “Busk Off If You’re Rubbish” (The Sun).

[pic 3] The map produced by the Cliffs of Moher Experience displaying five of the six busking pitches on offer

Then CMC installed ethically indefensible regulations. Today, musicians have to apply for a licence and buy a €20 "local pass". Only traditional Irish music is allowed—CMC is obsessed with its own idea of 'authenticity'—and shows can only take place at specific times on designated pitches.

Not content with controlling what the musicians can do, CMC also have a say in what they can eat. Musicians aren't allowed to bring a packed lunch, as they can only consume food and drink purchased on site.


[pic 4 and 5] Musicians displaying signs asking people to walk hundreds of metres to buy their CDs

The most bizarre rule of all—one that I've not seen anywhere else in the world—is that the musicians can only sell CDs by entering into an arrangement with one of the visitor centre's various stores, which then charge a 'handling fee'.

In order to make sales, then, the musicians have to display signs telling people to buy CDs inside. Depending on which pitch the musician is performing on, their audience might have to walk over five hundred metres away to actually make a purchase. Obviously, this has all-but-ruined CD sales.

CMC also prevents musicians from accepting cashless payments for an incredibly arbitrary reason, claiming that QR code signs or digital payment terminals would "take from the authentic experience that the public receive when they visit the Cliffs of Moher".

That is, of course, transparently bullshit reasoning. CMC is absolutely fine (as shown in the photos above) with their licensees displaying large metal A-frame signs covered in digitally-printed artwork telling passersby to purchase CDs in nearby shops, where, of course, cards are accepted.

Signs aren't the problem, and nor are cashless payments. So what is? My guess is that CMC believes the most 'authentic experience' they can give tourists is one where musicians are destitute.

[pic 6] An "authentic experience", according to CMC.

CMC also banned amplification, saying that it is prohibited because of the Wildlife Act of 1976. According to them, music interferes with the puffins that nest on the cliffs during the summer. But as Adam Kaul wrote in his paper:
Given the overwhelming sounds of howling winds and pounding surf, not to mention the noise and activity generated from hundreds or thousands of tourists per day, this claim seems rather far-fetched.
CMC has never tried to measure the noise levels of their musicians as heard over the edge and down the cliff. But even if their argument was sound, puffins are only on the cliffs from late May to July. They've never even tried to make the case that an amp ban is necessary during the other nine months of the year.

Also, under such strict controls, CMC could easily police sound levels from musicians using amplification, which would protect local bird life and enable the artists to create a more enjoyable experience for tourists during the summer months—vital at a location whose weather is so harsh. As Adam writes:
All of the buskers at the Cliffs who I interviewed talked at length about the difficulty of playing outdoors in a landscape with strong winds, and salty sea air that quickly corrodes their instruments. Some musicians have had instruments custom-made for rigorous outdoor environments. Others have had to regularly buy new ones. Even in sunny weather in Ireland, the temperatures are often frigid.

[pic 7] Image courtesy of cliffsofmoher.ie, under the title "Our team named us a Great Place to Work in 2022!"

Let's sum up. CMC is a private limited company that runs the land on top of the cliffs. They treat that land like private property (remember the trespass notices above), demanding that musicians purchase licences in order to perform up there. They then determine everything about those shows, including:
Who (licensed musicians)
When (schedule/curfews)
Where (demarcated pitches)
What (traditional Irish music)
How (without amplification)
We can add 'why' as well, as licensees are forced to perform a minimum number of times or they'll have their licence revoked.

This private limited company profits off of the musicians in at least four ways: forcing them to buy the local pass, forcing them to buy food and drink on-site, taking a cut of CD sales, and the simple fact that these shows are great for business. The musicians are frequently quoted in five-star reviews on Trip Advisor and Google Maps as one of the Cliffs' most entertaining qualities.

This is, as Adam Kaul put it, "the commodification of a musical landscape". But I'd go one step further: by any reasonable interpretation of the situation here, in order to benefit their own corporate interests, a private company is booking musicians to perform curated, regulated and monitored shows on private property. You can't call these "street performances" by "buskers" (which is why I haven't used those words above). These are unpaid gigs.

In my opinion, that goes against not just basic ethics but also any laws that exist in Ireland preventing slave labour.
I'm fascinated by this topic because you could make the case that the exploitation of buskers for profit is a basic problem with all busking licences, especially those situated in commercial districts/downtown, and inarguably those on land governed by Business Improvement Districts.

Is that ever okay without paying the performers?

Anyway, if you've heard of a worse busking licence, please let me know, especially if it has a weird or particularly brutal rule.

Thanks,

Nick