If you are lucky enough to have a musical skill that others enjoy listening to, or simply are brave enough to have a go anyway, then busking can be a pretty good way of earning extra money. The lowest paid part-time jobs are normally around €8-10 per hour now, so with the possibility of earning €30-50 an hour busking is pretty tempting.

It goes without saying of course that your ability to earn money is very much dependent on several key busking factors: musical ability, location, timing, style of music, and appearance. Unfortunately, I can’t help you with most of these, but I can tell you the rules in Frankfurt 🙂

– firstly you don’t need a licence and you don’t have to register in advance

– you can busk anytime Monday to Saturday from 7am to 8pm (and until 9pm from May to August)

– there is strictly no busking allowed on Sundays or public holidays

– at no point are you allowed to exceed 60dbA and amplifiers, loud speakers and mega speakers are forbidden. The rule on amplifiers is lax though so long as it is still quiet.

– you can play in one spot for a maximum 1 hour before you have to move. If you have a loud instrument, like a trumpet, you can play two periods of 15 minutes with a 15 minute pause in between. Then you need to change locations.

– you can’t take the spot of another performer immediately after they stop. There needs to be a one hour ‘noise pause’

– groups are limited to 5 performers

And if you are deemed by the police or city authorities to knowingly and repeatedly break these rules then you can be fined up to €5000.

If you have questions or need more information, everything you need to know is here on the city website.