Has Anyone Seen This Scam?

Ah, yes, perform before a captive audience and then ask for money....I think most would calling it busking, but it's one thing when it's on the street and you can walk by and it another thing when it's on a train or subway car. This happens in NYC. Not all the time, as it is illegal, but often enough to be really annoying. Sometimes, it's not even music, just a recitation of why you should give the person money. They usually have a child walk around with the hat or can.

Pam

You were on a train from Basel to Paris, I assume it was a TGV. Since that is a reservation only train the "poor" panhandler must have had a ticket to get on board:) If not why didn't the train staff throw her butt off the train????

I've seen this on metros and local trains in different cities, but never on a longer distance train such as the one you were on. I agree with the previous poster that it's easy to just say no to these pushy musicians and like you I'm surprised anyone would encourage them by giving them money. They're definitely annoying.

On the train from Paris to Versailles there was a man playing "La Vie En Rose" on the violin. I thought it was beautiful and gave him a few euros. The folks I was traveling with thought I was crazy but I figured the guy was just making a living.

It wasn't a scam. It happens often on the Paris metro. You could call it busking or you could call it begging but scamming is something entirely different, often based on the naiveté or greed of the scamee.

This is not a scam, it is just someone trying to earn money by playing music.

They do it all the time in Frankfurt on the S-bahn going back and forth from the airport. Sometimes it is 2 guys and the 1 man plays a mean sax while the other one sings "hit the road Jack". Other days it is 2 women and they play a recording while singing along. Makes most people smile, and though a lot of them don't give them money, you have to give them credit for trying. But it certainly is not a scam. A scam is someone trying to cheat you.

Now that I think about it, this happened on the train from Luzern to Basel. Perhaps scam is not the right word, but it was sort of cheating in the sense that she was playing a boom box not an instrument. There was no work involved. The main irritation is that you were forced to listen to it.

now that IS annoying!!

Well said. I cannot imagine a more miserable life than being obliged to beg.

My husband is a professional musician. He tips people based on the creativity or quality of the performance. If it was something unique or of good quality - he tips. Some street performers can add a bit of charm to a place. Playing to a captive crowd and being pushy is just rude though. In large cities, some college music students may be earning their way through music school. I also understand people having compassion for beggars. However, some are "professional" beggars and some use the money for drugs/alcohol. It's impossible to know if you are helping or not.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel started out playing in the Paris Metro.

They use money for drugs and alcohol? Oh, no! Say it isn't so! Even though some of my best friends spend money on alcohol, I really object to poor beggars doing the same when they should be buying whole wheat bread and organic vegetables.

I've experienced all sorts of attempts to solicit money while on public transit in Europe. Placing Chicklets gum next to all passengers on one loop and then seeking payment on the second loop. Another is the Roma (?) lady with an infant in one arm and a cup in the other and walking down the aisle, giving passengers a rather evil stare when ignoring her "request" for money. Are the social welfare programs (food, housing, medical, job (re)training) inadequate in Europe?

"Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel started out playing in the Paris Metro."

On the metro trains, or in the metro stations? There is a difference.

I love street musicians (and other buskers) and I don't mind anybody performing for tips (including in metro stations), in fact I usually do tip them if I was entertained. But jumping on a train or subway car and forcing a captive audience to listen, even if it's good music, is an annoyance that I for one am not willing to pay for. It's also illegal in most places.

Hey Bruce, it's hard to determine what "adequate" social welfare programs are. There could be a social welfare program for just about anything. We have all the same issues here in the USA. Then, there are some street people that truly are beyond help from anyone.

Carroll

i call it free entertainment.

also, it never ceases to amaze me that where ever i go, things are diffenent, yet the same.

happy trails.

Not a scam, just busking. I will normally drop a few coins, no more than 50c/50p in the cup. At the very least they are doing something to earn those coins.

Busking , yes, can be annoying if person is talentless or using canned music, but as noted.. its only a few coins.. its not scamming, its just begging, and I don't care if they use my money for drugs or alcohol.. better then stealing money for those same things.. I don't think anything I do will make they stop doing drugs or alcohol... or contribute to it either. They will get what they need for their addictions regardless of my "helping" them or not .

I don't particularily like the buskers on the metro. just because one is "trapped" ,, whereas on the street you can just walk past them, so if music is bad you are not stuck listening to it.

I am remembering the time on the NY subway when a homeless man was almost 'shaming' people into giving him money - a big speech about his hard times and so on. At the end, he asked people if they could give, to please do...but very awkward. The whole car was silent, no one wanted to meet anyone's eyes, trying their best to pretend he didn't exist. I can't say I've ever given money to any subway performers, but I have dropped money into cups on the street (generally, those with animals with them). I can't imagine ever getting to that point in life to have to beg or busk for change, and in the end, a few quarters or a euro isn't going to break you...(also remembering the mariachi-type bands on the subways in NY and San Fran - very lively!!)

When we encounter street musicians we almost always go out of our way to give them a coin or two. Sure, there are examples of 'in your face' requests for money, and I may or may not back off from donating in those situations, what I try not to do is to judge them or their life experience.

This is sort of off topic but my husband and I really love the real musicians that play in the tunnels and the stations of the Paris metro. We have been traveling to France for years and years and have some wonderful CD's from the groups or single musicians that we listened to when we are using the metro. Some of them are very talented.

You're darn tootin they're talented. They audition for those spots in the metro tunnels and have a legitimate right to be there. The days, times, and places are reserved for those groups.

The musicians on the Metro trains in Paris are breaking the law AFAIK. I saw one trio busted by police. Usually they just get on, play their music and try to collect money, then hop off the train at the next stop. If I like the music I usually will drop a coin into the cup. I don't find the money collectors obnoxious. Sometimes the music is just a foot away from me, and sometimes (usually) the music isn't very good.

This isn't scamming . this is people trying to stay alive . I spent my working life as a professional musician in Broadway pit orchestras and classical venues . In my trips to Europe ( not to mention here at home ) it breaks my heart to see so many decent people struggling to survive . I was lucky , many are not . I am not always a fan of the style of music being played , but none of these people are engaged in a dishonest endeavor . If one finds this irritating , earplugs will do the trick ! I am not defending this from a personal standpoint , but from a humanistic one - not everyone is imbued with good fortune and a bit of compassion is certainly appropriate .

JG, perhaps not the world's smallest.

I always give money to musicians, usually on the street. I've never encountered aggressive behavior from entertainers, at least not yet.