FFWD Article on Ben

City fines defiant downtown busker

Singer ticketed for using amplification, selling CDs at night
Published October 8, 2009 by Jeremy Klaszus in News
Riley Brandt

Ben Rose is allowed to sell his CDs during the day on Stephen Avenue — but not after 6 p.m., when a different set of rules kicks in.

A downtown busker who has been repeatedly warned not to use amplification has been slapped with bylaw tickets for refusing to unplug and for selling his CDs after 6 p.m., when his selling permit becomes invalid — a crackdown that has renewed discussion about busking in the city.

The city revamped rules for buskers in August 2008, lifting restrictions on where buskers could play. At the same time, the city disallowed amplified sound for all buskers. Bylaw officers warned Ben Rose in May that if he kept using two speakers to amp his guitar and voice on Stephen Avenue, he could face a penalty. “He was warned quite a few times,” says Caralyn Macdonald of the Calgary Downtown Association (CDA), the organization that handles busking permits for the city.

Rose kept using his amps, and last month got two tickets for it. He remains unapologetic. “I’m playing patio music,” he says. “It’s very much about mellow and finger-picking. If I don’t have amplification, it doesn’t work. You can’t sing ‘Moon River’ and have someone hear it without a microphone and an amp for your guitar.”

He’s also been ticketed for selling his CDs. Rose has a CDA permit to sell during the daytime on Stephen Avenue Mall (a stretch of Eighth Ave. between First St. S.E. and Third St. S.W.), but once evening hits — the time Rose prefers to play — Stephen Avenue Mall is governed by a different set of rules. “We manage the mall on behalf of the city from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m.,” says Macdonald. “At that point, it just goes back to [being a city] roadway.”

After 6 p.m., Stephen Avenue is governed by the city streets bylaw, which forbids “display[ing] or exhibit[ing] merchandise of any nature for sale.” Rose got two tickets for that, and when he changed his sign to read “suggested donation,” he got two additional tickets under the same bylaw for “request[ing] donations without permission or approval.” Rose says the bylaw officer told him,“If you want to sell CDs, there’s a thing called a record company.”

Brian Dorscht, the city’s arts and culture event co-ordinator, says that while the city is open to suggestions about its busking program, musicians like Rose have to follow the rules. “He has an agreement that says he can sell until 6, and then he’s just gone ahead and gone against what he’s signed,” says Dorscht. “That’s something he needs to adhere to.”

The no-amplification rule, adds Dorscht, is in place so buskers don’t compete with each other with volume and create “invasive” noise. “There are many, many buskers in the world who play acoustically, and they do fine.” Dorscht says the city has only received three complaints from buskers about the no-amplification rule.

Rose plans to fight the tickets in court (he has been fined $100 for one ticket, and has five remaining court summonses). “It seems like if they had their way, downtown would cease to exist at six o’clock,” he says. “I don’t want to paint Calgary as this backward place that persecutes artists, but I’m sorry, that’s what you guys are up to.”

City bylaw chief Bill Bruce won’t discuss specifics of Rose’s situation — “that’s a matter before the courts” — but says his officers hand out tickets for a reason. “Generally that’s why we’re there — somebody’s complained,” says Bruce.

After he got the tickets, Rose moved onto restaurant patios — an arrangement that lets him sell CDs without violating city rules. But Clayton Morgan, owner of The Belvedere, says Rose shouldn’t be restricted to patios. “It adds a lot of spark and life to the street, and for the bylaw officer to come around and throw tickets his way for whatever reason, I think it’s just petty,” says Morgan.

The CDA has given out more than 500 busking permits this year, compared with about 150 last year, when a $50 fee was in place. Macdonald says the no-amplification rule has been getting “mixed reviews” from buskers.

Longtime local busker Daniel Duguay — a.k.a. Dan the One Man Band — says the no-amplification rule makes musicians like him feel unwelcome. “Harley Davidsons are allowed to peruse the neighbourhood any hour that they want, and that’s completely fine, that’s no problem. But a guy standing out there playing his songs and trying to bring a smile to people’s faces — oh no, we’ve got to put something on that.”

The city should be especially welcoming to buskers who sell their music, Duguay says. “If you have a CD, then that is a good indication that you’re half decent. You’re not Johnny three-string guitar playing in front of the liquor store…. It just seems crazy that you would do anything like that to dissuade people from being out there.”

Dorscht says the city will be holding a public forum in November to get buskers’ input on city policies. “We’ll be talking to them about what our process is, what would make this a more busker-friendly city.”

Rose is scheduled to appear in court twice later this month and three times in November.



Comments: 3

waterbaby wrote:
Daniel Duguay hits the nail straight on the head when he observes that Harleys can rip an otherwise civilized land- (or in this case: city-) scape apart with their dreadful and obnoxious sound and fumes but a musician can't contribute to the culture of the community at a scale and volume that offends no-one.

Ben Rose plays and sings beautifully. He harms no one and creates a convivial environment that discourages anti-social behaviour. For that alone, the city of Calgary should be paying HIM. Big bucks! How long do you think the average Calgarian would stand around listening to the average Calgary cop crooning standards? Ben Rose is a municipal treasure. Quit fining the poor guy and start appreciating his gifts.

Jeez-frickin' Louise!

on Oct 8th, 2009 at 8:25pm Report Abuse

appleman wrote:
Calgary should be doing everything it can to make it EASIER for artists to make a living--not HARDER! Not by adding more hoops! If you're good at what you do, and it makes Calgary a nicer place to be in, city hall should be looking at ways to make it as easy as possible!

Way to go Ben!

on Oct 8th, 2009 at 9:27pm Report Abuse

laricasurf wrote:
“If you want to sell CDs, there’s a thing called a record company.” What an ignorant statement.

on Oct 8th, 2009 at 11:34pm Report Abuse