Enough Music To Go Around

This morning I went to my favourite stomping ground to catch the morning rush hour. I was in very good spirits and my guitar and voice sounded bright and cheerful.

The crowds were much thicker than at other times of day. But nobody was stopping.

Not that I blame them. We're all trying to get somewhere.

It was striking, what a small fraction of people made a point of reaching into their pockets today. It reminded me of some comments other subway musicians had made to me recently, that they feel people are giving less than they used to. It's not scientifically provable...but we all share the same feeling. Fewer people are donating than you might expect.

Many people are walking by wearing iPods these days. We've devised a way to create isolating bubbles of sound for ourselves even when we're not driving cars. We can listen to our own personal playlist that plays all the time and blocks out everything else, even when we're in "public space". Probably we're always doing this with the continual soundtracks in our heads, but the iPod makes it sexy. (Here's a fantastic compliment that I get from time to time. As someone is walking by, he removes his headphones to check out what I'm singing.)

I do believe that "crowd-think" is a big part of donation patterns. It's not as if I hold each person personally responsible...and in fact, I make a point of smiling and looking content so that people won't feel guilty if they're too pressed at that moment to reach into their pockets. Of course, the individuals who do donate something (this morning a young woman in a headscarf donated a nickel and another donated five dollars!) shine like gold.

They seem to know they're doing something unusual...something even vaguely rebellious or subversive, giving to someone when they don't have to, when it's purely up to them, when there's more than enough music to go around anyway.

(8:02 to 10:45 - $30.62 - which seems pretty average, until you consider the number of people. Conservatively, I'm estimating that 250 people passed through Pape Station this morning.)