“When you ban street music, you ban your cultural heritage. Public performances are part of the nation's history,” says Stephen Baird of Community Arts Advocates, a non-profit group in Boston, USA, that advises street performers on legal issues. He says that American courts have consistently upheld musicians' right to perform in public.
However, in Chicago, the city council has recently banned all performances on a busy four-block stretch of the Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile, prompted by complaints from businesses and residents. The new regulations also lower acceptable decibel levels everywhere else in the city and require entertainers exceeding 55 decibels — the level of loud talking — to pack up by 8 p.m. on weeknights.
Tim Nutt, who records street music across the USA and posts it on his website, www.streetnote.org, says Chicago's rich musical heritage makes it a surprising place to limit performances: "Cars without mufflers are much more of a nuisance. We should never consider street music to be a form of noise pollution," he says.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, the city council discusses whether to ban street musicians from expressing their musical talent on various streets and public areas in the city.
The same debate is playing out in other cities all over the planet.
In Glasgow, England, a woman was even sent to prison for refusing to turn her music down. Marion Beresford, 48, was sentenced to 40 days by Glasgow Sheriff Court for playing loud music in her flat.
Since 1998, an ordinance has prevented musicians in Burbank, California, from conducting lessons in their homes. The ban was adopted after a task force decided the noise and vibrations generated by the lessons would be a nuisance. The ban did not stop all residents from holding lessons in their home, though, and it is still being debated in the city council.
In Guyana, Minister of Home Affairs Gail Teixeira announced in early February, 2006, that music on minibuses will be banned.
In St. Louis City in Missouri, USA, a proposal is debated whether to allow police to impound cars with enhanced stereo equipment. The proposed bill allows the city to fine motorists with sound systems straight from the factory, even enabling police to take their cars regardless whether the volume is way up or turned on at all. The bill has been criticized as overly broad and intrusive, and there has been claims that the plan would hurt some city businesses.
In Clive Park in Northbridge Bold in Australia, red signs in the area's parks warn that singing or playing a musical instrument without permission from the Willoughby Council is prohibited. Local residents have been surprised to see the signs. "It is kind of unfair that you're not allowed to sing or play an instrument in the park," says ten-year-old Katherine Jones who found Clive Park a great place to practice the guitar.
In Ludhiana, India, no one is allowed to beat a drum or tom-tom, or blow a trumpet, or sound any instrument or use any sound amplifier at night between 10 pm and 6 am. Except in public emergencies. It is also ordered that the peripheral noise level of privately-owned sound systems must not exceed by more than five dB than the "ambient air quality standard" specified for the area in which it is used, at the boundary of the private place.
In Newfoundland, Canada, a St. John's city councillor is calling for a ban on rock concerts in one of the city's largest parks, Bowring Park. The Park Foundation does not want the vandalism and noise that comes with large rock concerts. Music promoters and organisers said they are disappointed because they believe the park is a great venue with a natural amphitheatre.
Make the city more lively
Other communities and councils have a different view on this issue. Around the world, there are also those who actually encourage outdoor music and street performances. Some recent examples:
Baltimore's City Council in USA has recently held a hearing on a proposal to license street performers. The goals: bring in cash with permit fees costing US $50-75 and make the city more lively.
The Los Angeles City Council, USA, has passed an ordinance creating a "free speech and expression zone" that protects street performers in Venice Beach. There are noise restrictions. The music must be inaudible 50 feet away and inside adjacent buildings — when doors and windows are closed. "Performers should be considered a treasure," says Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the proposal's sponsor. "That is what brings the tourists."
When Honolulu passed a ban on street performances in 2000, it was struck down after the American Civil Liberties Union argued it restricted free speech. Honolulu is presently debating whether to limit street performances to six designated spots on four blocks from 7 pm to 10 pm. The city’s mayor, Mufi Hannemann, vetoed a measure that would have barred performers from the area during those hours.
"Street musicians provide a personality and spice which is needed to foster a vibrant community. Let’s not needlessly impose regulations which help stifle creativity and add to an increasingly sterile world. US$ 120 million has recently been spent to make downtown Chattanooga a wonderful place to live and visit, let’s make it a city that is unafraid to open its streets to spontaneity and a democratic artistic process," writes Mike Robison as a comment to the proposed ban on street musicians in Chattanooga.
"Would Nashville be the same if we took all of the street musicians and threw them back in their tiny apartment studios to only dream of public expression?" writes another protester, Lucy Bach.
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