Theme: Research Question (for now)

Busking is ancient; it has been in almost all (if not all) societies since antiquity. Sadly, they aren’t so common around the Seattle area (Pike Place Market being the exception).

It seems as though there is a certain stigma Seattleites attach to buskers—if you see one of those grubbily-dressed guitar players (I refrain from calling them guitarists) playing on the AVE, what comes to mind?

Poor. Uneducated. Smelly. Unrefined. Tonedeaf.

Those are the adjectives that come to my mind. They are influenced by my expectations of the performers combined with the first impression. Busking doesn’t have to come in this form, however. For example, my guitar professor told me that in Europe, music conservatory students often busk for some pocket change. Surfing around the internet also yielded information regarding other skilled artists who busk.

…

Expectation has an important effect on our ability to perceive and judge. This is particularly true in the arts—Joshua Bell playing his Strativarius in a subway station was largely ignored

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html)

and more recently, the expectations, etc. surrounding Susan Boyle in “Britain’s Got Talent”

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY).

In addition, stigma influences expectations. The stigma in my mind about buskers prevented me from (potentially) enjoying the guitar-players’ AVE performances. But that’s my bias; I wonder what others think?

So now I ask: do stigmas and expectations of buskers differ between areas? If so, for what reasons? I also wonder why “skilled” musicians don’t seem to busk around the Seattle area. This guided me (with the help of Julie and Shawn) to my current research question:

Are there differences in the stigma/expectations in busking musicians in Alexanderplatz compared to a flea market in Arkonaplazt? If so, what underlies it?