As a 30 year busker... there are rules and coustoms out there. As to giving up a good spot, well, that is a nice idea, but it can't really work in a city like New York or London. You have to really work a spot in order to pay your rent. In New York, rents can be - for a working class one room flat, 800 bucks and up. So, most buskers have to work like mules to just keep a room. We who busk for a living can't give up a spot to a casual busker. On the other hand, I always share information on 1. How to find a good spot (working class corners, not completely poor neighborhoods, parks, subways, the rich parts of town, both where they live and work, you will not get a dime, find a place where people either slow down or have to stop, or they just listen as they pass by, smile at you and stiff ya). 2. I tell folks where the good spots are, 3. Who ever gets there first has it, but, eventually everyone has to go to the jacks. I have built up a very patient bladder, so I can hold a spot long enough to make enough money. 4. NEVER NEVER NEVER take a licence from the government. If you do you are a scab. You are giving control of our ancient tradition to a government who gives you nothing but abuse in return. We are the inheritors of the freedom of the roads.
Keep the music alive and the streets ours.
Larry