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London Launches World's First Contactless Payment Scheme For Street Performers (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Here's a casualty of the cashless society you might not have previously thought of: the humble street performer. After all, if more of us are paying our way with smartphones and contactless cards, how can we give spare change to musicians on the subway? London has one solution: a new scheme that outfits performers with contactless payment terminals. The project was launched this weekend by the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, and is a collaboration with Busk In London (a professional body for buskers) and the Swedish payments firm iZettle (which was bought this month by PayPal for $2.2 billion). A select few performers have been testing iZettle's contactless readers on the streets for the past few weeks, and Khan now says the scheme will be rolled out across London's 32 boroughs.
...that some enterprising busker does not put the reader at waist height in a crowded area and gain hundreds of "taps" from unsuspecting passersby.
So their modest income is now trackable by the government, if not now, very soon. It’s only a matter of time until even the oldest profession in the world is monitored by governments for taxes due.
It feels weird saying this but street performers in China have had QR codes for both WeChat and Alipay for a while now. It's been around so long it isn't even an a novelty any more.
And they're jailing journalists for engaging in journalism.
Except this is not the first. WeChat and AliPay can be used to pay street performers, beggars, homeless bums, etc., and unlike this scheme, they don't require an expensive reader. Just a QR sticker that can be printed out for about 2 cents, and placed on the performer's sign.
Now "Sorry, I don't carry cash" is no excuse.
You can claim that your cell battery is dead.
Ebenezer! When did you start posting on Slashdot?
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has ever been dumb enough to give money to a street performer?
I have, many times, and in many cities. If they put on a good show, and make me laugh, I am happy to contribute a few bucks to their livelihood and keep street culture alive.
There's a significant difference between a street performer and a beggar.
One offers something before they ask for payment; the other just asks for payment. Some performers are crap. Some have heart but no talent. Others are superb. You get to judge the product before you pay.
I've stood in a queue while a busker up the street played several classical pieces on the flute. He was amazing and made the wait a pleasant one. I've waited for friends and stood on the street listening to some musicians jam. Not great, but very fun. I've bought CDs from performers I liked, attended markets where the music was provided by various street performers ranging form the competent to the talented.
I'm not sure where you've been, but I _like_ street culture. I like buskers and performers. They add to the fabric of society and asking people to donate some coin in return for what they've already given away is more than fair.
It depends on the performed...
I don't like being approached and harassed, not only when i walk down the street but also in my own home.
However most of these street performers don't harass anyone, they sit in one location and perform, you are free to walk around and ignore them, or you can choose to stop and watch. Some of them are good, some of them suck, but it's no different than a bar or shop which has music or video playing in the window.
If they passively perform and are good i will happily give them money sometimes...
If they aggressively approach me demanding money, disturbing my day or intentionally blocking my path they will get nothing but a hostile stare from me. This applies not only to buskers, but anyone trying to get something from me either for free or in exchange for something.
If your goods are on display and i like the look of them and/or ask about them thats great, if you aggressively try to sell to me i'm not interested.
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It's just a point-of-sales terminal. Use Apple Pay and relax. And the London mayor is really not part of "the government"
Incidentally, London implements a licensing scheme for its public transport. I presume plenty of other cities do the same.
Now "Sorry, I don't carry cash" is no excuse.
You can claim that your cell battery is dead.
Or you could just say no. Works just as well. Mind you if lying because you feel you would otherwise be a bad person makes you feel better about yourself then by all means.
The list of famous musicians who were once buskers is very long.
While not famous, I saw the best guitar player at our school who has gone to do great things in the local musical scene busking long after he was able to afford to live as a musician without a second job to support him.
I asked him why, and he just said, why not. The difference between playing at home on the couch and playing here in the subway station is that I get free dinner doing it here.
This is a good lesson to you younger Slashdotters out there: racism makes you stupid.
Except that "muslim" isn't a race.
Who's stupid again?
e.g. people dressed as Romans around the Colluseum in Rome
Of course the people who live in Rome dress like Romans. Pretty much by definition. People in Albuquerque dress like Albuquerquians.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.