Music Under New York. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-concepts and wellbeing of buskers in the MUNY program
Final Report Abstract
Busking, performing in public spaces for voluntary donations, plays a significant role in urban cultural life. It offers performers opportunities for creative expression, income, and identity formation while promoting social interaction and cultural diversity. However, street musicians also often face precarious working conditions, including competition for spaces, restrictive regulations, and exposure to stigma and violence. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically intensified these challenges. In New York City - a global center for street performance - public spaces and live events were shut down, leaving buskers without income or artistic outlets. This study focused on subway performers from the Music Under New York (MUNY) program, established in 1985 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to provide selected artists with legal and recognized performance spaces in the subway system. The program’s suspension in March 2020 deprived performers of earnings and essential spaces for creative expression and public engagement. Drawing on narrative-biographical interviews and participant observation, the study examined how the pandemic affected performers’ working conditions, self-concepts, and wellbeing. The findings revealed that the loss of public performance opportunities caused significant psychological stress, loneliness, and, for some, identity crises - particularly among those whose self-concept was closely tied to their role as buskers or who depended financially on busking. For most study participants, performing was not just a job but a meaningful social and creative practice that shaped their self-perception and connections to their communities. The absence of social protections and the perceived devaluation of their art further exacerbated these difficulties. Nevertheless, the study also identified remarkable resilience. Some artists adapted by embracing digital platforms, creating new income streams, developing innovative performance practices, and redefining their artistic self-concepts. While digitalization opened up new opportunities for artistic visibility and economic self-promotion, it simultaneously contributed to the reproduction and intensification of social inequalities, particularly through processes of digital exclusion, which often required older musicians to possess advanced technological skills and knowledge, thereby hindering their participation in an increasingly digitized urban music culture. The pandemic underscored the essential role of public performance spaces - not only for the financial survival of street musicians but also for maintaining their self-concepts as artists and their psychological wellbeing. It also exposed broader vulnerabilities among freelance cultural workers, particularly the psychological consequences of losing work opportunities and public visibility. The study concludes that comprehensive structural support is essential to ensure the sustainability of street performance, especially during social and economic crises. Programs like MUNY should go beyond providing performance spaces by offering psychosocial support and resources to foster resilience and long-term sustainability within urban music cultures.
Publications
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Music Under New York. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selfconcepts and wellbeing of buskers in the MUNY program. AMS | SEM | SMT 2022 Joint Annual Meeting. New Orleans (USA), 11/2022
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Career Booster North America: Interviews with German researchers in the USA and Canada. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Ptatscheck, M. & Stefan Altevogt
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Guest Lecture Series. Straßenmusik, Wohlbefinden und der Wert von Musik in Zeiten der (Post- )Pandemie Musicology Department, University of Vienna (Austria), 11/2023
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Seminar “Ethnographic Fieldwork (Methoden ethnographischer Feldforschung). “The way you make me feel. Chancen und Herausforderungen ethnographischer Feldforschung“ Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany), 07/2023
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) 2023 Annual Meeting. ‘Everything will be okay!’ – Busking, well-being, and the value of music in times of pandemic” Ottawa (Canada), 10/2023
Melanie Ptatscheck
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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of buskers in the New York underground. XXII Biennial IASPM International Conference “Popular Music in Crisis”. Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA), 06/2023
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Guest lecture “Einführung Musikethnographie”. “Welcome to the Hunger Game!” Lebensrealitäten von Straßenmusiker*innen in New York City Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany), 05/2024
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Guest lecture, seminar “Popular Music Studies. Introductory Lecture”. “Everything will be OK!” – Busking, wellbeing, and the value of music in the (post-)pandemic world Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany), 05/2024
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Research Round Table Jazz and Popular Music. “Everything will be OK!”: Straßenmusik, Wohlbefinden und der Wert von Musik in Zeiten der (Post-) Pandemie University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Austria), 03/2024
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Social functions of street music in times of the (post-)pandemic. International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM-US) “‘You know how we do’: Popular Music and Communality”. Philadelphia (USA), 04/2024
Melanie Ptatscheck
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Straßenmusik in New York feat. Melanie Ptatscheck. Musikgespräch. Der musikwissenschaftliche Podcast
Ptatscheck, M. with Maria Behrendt & Anna Schors
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“Everything Will Be OK”: Busking, Well-Being, and the Value of Music in Times of Pandemic. MUSICultures, 51, 35-55.
Ptatscheck, Melanie
