I've heard some brilliant musicians in the metro stations in NYC or Rome. Here in San Francisco there are surprisingly few legitimate street musicians. Most of them have more schtick than talent.

For example:
There are 2 guys who do some mediocre dance moves to a boombox outside our office on occasion. Their music selection is intentionally awful.

There's a rather aggressive guy with a guitar in the mission late at night on weekend who generally just yells at people rather than playing anything. This works surprisingly well on hipsters...possibly more effective than music. I give him credit for knowing his audience.

While cycling through the more tourist-ridden areas of town i've encountered a guy with a full upright piano attached to a bike (I'll find photos of this and post them).

Beats listening to the competing Traffic anyway.

I actually like to listen to other people play instumrents, especially in a band or orchastra. Mabye it because I play an instrument myself [violin] but hearing good musicians play is something I enjoy.

This is a real treat. In Toronto, the TTC (transit authority) actually have auditions for the spots in the subway and the competition is fierce producing buskers of great talent and variety. I've seen string quartets, opera singers, African drummers, heavy metal guitarists, a guy playing the pan flute, a guy who whistled like a canary - and all of them brilliant.

They're always nice to listen to once in a while. There seems to be a lot around when we're downtown during a game or concert.

This is at its very best when you discover them in an unfamiliar city. I saw an incredible blues duo on a street-corner in Phoenix of all places.

This can really make ones day.While out walking,I passed through a huge old building with great accoustics that people walk through along the boardwalk.A man inside was playing delta style blues quietly,with an old guitar tuned to an open D,and the sound was just gorgeous.On my way back he was still playing and singing,I listened for a few minutes and approached him,and told him how great he sounded,and he shyly said:It's the building...what humility! I thought he beat the pants off anything I've heard on the radio for years!

Never thought about it like that but yes this is a pleasure.

I'm not the world's greatest music fan, but I do occasionally get moved by street musicians. The most memorable encounter with street musicians (yep, here comes another one of my stories) was years ago in a delightful little town in Belgium (La Roche en Ardenne). Back then (maybe even now, I have no idea), every Sunday during the summer they had a sort of competition between six or seven small marching bands that would march through the town playing all manner of music. Anyway, after the official part of the concert was over, one of the bands plunked down at a corner cafe and started playing fun' things during lulls in their beer drinking. The guy I was with and I decided to buy them a round of drinks in appreciation of their playing - when they found out I was an American, they offered to play the American national anthem for me, which turned out to be When the Saints Come Marching In!!! It was stupendous, beer and all. An unforgettable experience.

As long as they have some talent then sure, in fact in can be quite fun listening to them. Oh and CTVfan if you don't like musicians expressing their creativity, then why do you like no talent writers posting their work on the internet.

If they are playing because they enjoy themselves, and they are halfway good, it's a great little pleassure to stop and listen. I'll always leave a couple of bucks.

The key word is talent. Well the ones who are around where I live are without talent.

I think it's refreshing to see people have a passion for something they enjoy doing. Music can be artistic and art is very important in today's culture or any culture for that matter.

I heard an excellent live group in the middle of Convent garden about a month ago. It really reinforces the sense of culture and community in an urban center, which is extremely important given that in dense urban areas circumstances can quite often become demoralising.

The key word here is talented. It's fun when you are a tourist in a new city, kind of a pain in the ass when you hear them every day from where you work.

No thanks. I'll stick to the radio, CDs, Mp3s, cassettes, and records, thank you!

Listening to live music anywhere is great, but to listen to a group of street musicians is something special. It's how music should be played and listened too, they aren't playing in a structured environment, they are playing for the world.