The sound of the underground - 22nd March 2024

Musicians are being selected to entertain passengers on the London Underground. Three and a half million passengers use the tube network every day.

They look forward to hearing music in the stations. Buskers have been permitted at Underground stations for over 20 years.

Now it's time for Transport for London, TFL, which licenses these performers, to pick out some fresh talent. TFL employee Ann Gavaghan's the person who manages the selection process.

Ann Gavaghan: "When you say "busker", people tend to think of, you know, a person with an acoustic guitar and as we've seen this morning, we've had a variety of people. We've had somebody with an electronic cello. We've had two people with saxophone, we've had a couple vocalists. So we've just had a mix of instruments. And that's one thing I really love about the scheme."

Although their audiences are on the move, the buskers love the opportunity to perform. It's an exciting chance for singer songwriter Macy O.

Macy O: "I love performing for people, I love showing people my voice and I love just sharing music around. So that is definitely something that I'm very excited about. That's a really, like, exciting aspect of this whole thing for me."

480 buskers submitted applications for the TFL licences. However, only 280 have made it through to the second round. These lucky finalists are asked to play for a panel of judges, which consists of professional musicians and station employees.

They're not just keen to find talented artists, but also a great variety of acts. This is part of the attraction for Michael Harvey, who hopes to be chosen by the panel.

Michael Harvey: "Well, I personally think that you know quality is better than quantity. And with London being quite a very, very diverse city, it has a lot to give and offer hence why I think the underground system is trying to get a diversity of different acts and sounds and that's why here I am."

London Underground's buskers represent the diversity of the city. They could be students or retired people searching for a new career. While they're delighted to entertain you, just remember to throw some change in the buskers direction. This supports the tradition of underground music into the future.