Do the regulations for street music in Spain lead urban musicians to break the law?

Crismary Ospina Gallego; Maria Nuria Lloret Romero; Héctor Yovanny Betancur Santa

Authors

Crismary Ospina Gallego Universitat Politecnica de Valencia
Maria Nuria Lloret Romero Universitat Politecnica de Valencia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-8715
Héctor Yovanny Betancur Santa Universidad de Caldas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3944-3664

Keywords:

street music, illegal, job insecurity, tips, laws, amplification

Abstract

Do the regulations for street music in Spain lead urban musicians to break the law?

This study focuses on street musicians who sing or play musical instruments in a public space for donations/tips. Currently most of their needs are not covered in the laws relating to of street musicians in Spain, several cities do not have this profession regulated and in the localities that do, they prohibit amplification, the sale of their own music (CDs etc.), limit free movement and the instruments that they can use. These are rules that musicians must break in order to work, leaving the buskers who perform in a legal gap or limbo, without defense against the authorities.

This study addresses 3 parts: the first is an observational exercise from the perspective of the street musician which seeks to find out the basic needs of workers in their busking experience; the second area analyzes how the Spanish regulations behave based on the needs that these performers have; and the third element contrasts the personal view of the researcher with the opinions of other street musicians and groups found in the media.

Author Biographies

Maria Nuria Lloret Romero, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia

27 years at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia holding various management positions such as department director, PhD director, etc. I am currently Deputy Director of the IDF Research Institute and coordinator of the Berklee School of Music as an affiliated centre of the UPV. Founding partner of several companies, currently Senior Adviser of Metric Salad S.L . President of AECTA, member of the Executive Committee of CEV and President of FASE and member of the CEOE Digital Commission.

Nuria Lloret is Professor at the Universitat Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) and Deputy Director of the Institute of Design and Manufacture. She has been visiting professor at New York University and Tecnológico de Monterrey. She has directed more than 50 national and European research projects. ANECA evaluator.

Founder of the platform "Atenea : Women in Art and Stem and member of the platform of Gender Studies of the Spanish Universities. She is also Director of the International Congress of Emerging Technologies and has published more than 100 international publications of impact.

Senior Advisor at Metric Salad S.L and The Line Between Ltd. She is an advocate of associationism, being president of Fase (Federation of Technology Associations of the Valencian Community). AECTA Association of Technology Companies.
But above all, she is dedicated to mentoring young women towards Steam studies and supporting diversity in academic and business environments.

Héctor Yovanny Betancur Santa, Universidad de Caldas

Doctor of Music from the University of Montreal, specialising in contemporary music under the direction of Canadian flautist Lise Daoust. Renowned for his talent and discipline, he has been awarded scholarships of excellence throughout his training by the Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies of the University of Montreal.

He completed his Master's and Doctoral studies in Music at the University of Montréal - Canada. He studied chamber music with Jean Eude Veillancourt, baroque music with Jean Pierre Pinet and contemporary music with Lorraine Veillancourt and Cristian Gort. Betancur is regularly invited to play in important concert halls in Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain and France.

He is currently Professor of the Flute Chair, leader of the Research Group Observatory of transdisciplinary phenomena in music, Director of the Department of Music and director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble of the University of Caldas - Colombia. He is Peer Evaluator of Colciencias and Academic Peer of the CNA of the Ministry of National Education. Since 2016 he has been Artistic Director of the CiMa International Music Festival.