Always Coca Cola?!?

So, turns out London Underground is signing a sponsorship deal with Coca Cola.

Soon all the pitches on the underground will be covered with the unmistakable logo.
Buskers are introduced to a competition of 'Who plays most pitches & sing Coca Cola jingles' and can win something around £500 or so.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news, was an interview I once read with
Bjork, who said "she'll never wear Jeans or drink Coca Cola".

And there is of course the Neil Young well known title track of his 1988 album
This Note's For You:
"Ain't singin' for Pepsi, ain't singin' for Coke. I don't sing for nobody, makes me look like a joke."
But that was in 1988.

Now days we have ex punk pioneers such as Iggy pop the ‘inventor of punk’ appearing in insurance ads.
So, Ok it’s not quite smearing yourself in blood and peanut butter while jumping naked off the stage, but the spirit is there.
( Turns out Swiftcover didn't actually insure musicians...)

And how could we forget Sex Pistols's Johnny Rotten face spread all over town in Country Life butter posters spread all over town, in the name of Britishness.

Then of course we have Ringo Starr in the same campaign - who I'm sure is desperate for the cash. Lets not forget Alice Cooper and the list goes on...

But just because you dance with the devil does it mean you have to sleep with him?
Unlike these mega celebrities, buskers do need the money.
As my friend the accountant turned busking harpist; Peter Murphy says
"If you dangle a carrot in front of a musician they'll take it. They need the money"

The difference between a busker to the Iggy Pops and the Ringo Starrs is that £500 pounds for a busker may mean being able to make their rent, while Ringo might spend this kind of amount on a bottle of sparkly.


For decades buskers symbolized the non-conformist free spirited of musicians.
people who go against the grain.
Killing this is the last proof that capitalism is still the strongest monster around
and it bites us all.

I don't know what would have happened if I was offered a pile of cash and exposure to march in the name of a certain product.
I don't want to be a hypocrite, I can't promise I won't do it.
Thing is, I do drink Coke and like it.

But it bothers me that a huge cooperate like Coca Cola is offering the measly amount of prize money of £2,250 will be shared between 4 buskers to be won in a competition among 250 buskers or so.
This means some buskers out there would be standing for hours singing Coke jingles in December weather, and won't make a penny from Coke.

The irony is that this sponsorship deal is actually a positive thing for the buskers.
It means that London Underground who has no previous experience in music management maybe able to efford an external busking management.

I always expressed my support in the licensing of busking on the merits of treating buskers as respectable musicians and free the police to deal with real crime.

This means that there's a need for a management team that will involve a buskers committee in these kind of issues, as they are the people who are being affected directly by these decisions.

As a result rumours such as ; That buskers will wear Pepsi T shirts while this campaign is running...Yes, better communication is needed!?