‘Disappointing’: Aussie artist slams new busking rule
An Aussie musician has slammed a “disappointing” new rule she claims prevents people from performing at a popular spot for emerging artists.
An Aussie musician claims a “disappointing” new rule change is leaving emerging Aussie artists with “basically nothing” as she slams the move.
Ula, who is a nominee for TikTok’s live creator of the year, shot onto the Aussie music scene by recording herself busking along some of Sydney’s busiest streets with her covers of hit songs.
She has called out a new rule which, she claimed, effectively bans busking from George St, to her near two million TikTok and social media followers.
But the City of Sydney council said it “strongly supports busking” and no concerns were raised about busking zones for George St during consultation.
Many local musicians, including Ula, often set up on the busy street in Sydney’s CBD to sing, dance, and entertain passersby.
An email Ula claims was sent out to buskers states busking is no longer allowed on George St unless the area is listed as a special busking site under the Sydney Busking Code, effective immediately.
“So disappointing to see the City of Sydney council … just so blatantly not supporting the arts,” Ula said in the video.
She claimed the new rule was leaving musicians with “basically nothing”.
“(The) city talks about how they want to bring back a night-life and bring back energy to Sydney, yet they strip away the one thing that is consistently there bringing energy, love, laughter, a sense of community, a sense of happiness to the streets,” she said.
“Gone, absolutely gone.
“They’re taking away the small things that we have and leaving us with basically nothing.”
She brought up various videos of herself busking in the video, telling her audience “You can’t busk here” as a result of the new rule as each of the videos popped up on the screen.
However a City of Sydney spokesperson said there are six special busking sites that allow musicians with permits to perform along George St between the hours of 11am and 10pm according to the changes to the Sydney Busking Code.
The changes were unanimously approved this August, and community feedback about the changes were open for 42 days between last June and August; only 14 submissions were received.
This included four from buskers, which requested more monitoring by City rangers for non-compliant buskers and protesters in the public domain.
No concerns were raised about the creation of the six special busking areas along George St.
“The City of Sydney strongly supports busking and we continue to be one of the most permissive city centres in Australia for busking,” the City of Sydney spokesperson said.
“Buskers are ambassadors for the cultural life of the city and values we celebrate: diversity, respect and inclusion.
“We continue to permit buskers to perform on most public land across our local area. In a small number of high-traffic areas like George Street and Pitt Street Mall, it is necessary for us to manage busking activity to balance public safety and harmonious shared use of the spaces.”
Minister for Music and the Night Time Economy, John Graham, said the Minns government wanted “more busking, not less”.
“Busking brings our city streets alive, buskers surprise, delight and entertain locals and visitors a alike,” Mr Graham said
