Joshua Bell Flops as Street Performer
Pearls Before Breakfast – washingtonpost.com — A world class violinist pretends to be a busker. What happens? In an unbelievable indictment of the robot-like workforce in America a sick experiment puts the public to the test and they fail miserably. That said I can assure you that if the same test was done in a park or on a college campus the results would have been different. The London subway I suspect would have been different too. This should become a series and a TV special. Not only that but the violinist playing in the street was none other than superstar Joshua Bell. The article describing all this is a little long to read online I should add. Since neither music or art appreciation is taught in school anymore this sort of gag will always show up the public. That said, let’s face it the venue (aka packaging) does count. I bet if Bell went back to this venue and tried other music more in tuned with morning rush hour he’s get a flock of people.
It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L’Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.
found by Bubba Ray Martin
Yeah he’s good, but it’s not the type of music most people want to hear first thing in the morning before they’ve had a cup of coffee and are dragging themselves off to work. He’d do better on the after-work commute. People leaving work are more likely to stop.
And as far as giving money to people on the street, able-bodied, well dressed, white guys in their 30s are probably least likely to receive money from me.
Im sorry but this kind of “experiment” is crap. The key is in the name “Rush Hour”. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that these people need to get somewhere quickly to do their jobs. There is a time and a place for everything, and generally when people make the time for something they will act completely differently.
I can’t believe this surprises anyone. From the bits I read (it is a long piece like you say) it was written by a lover of his works, gasping through their keyboard about “how can people be so oblivious to a masterpiece.. etc”.
Would YOU show up late at your job for this guy? Even if you knew who he was? You’d show up and the boss would say, Joshua who? You’re fired. Plus, I beg to differ about a different scenario at any college campus, except perhaps Juilliard. Are people better people because of the kind of music they listen to? Oh well, I guess I took the troll-bait didn’t I (the cutting down Americans bait)?
So you’re suggesting nearly everyone who passed him that morning was late for work? I think that actually says something worse about the American workforce…
Instead, stop pretending that this has anything to do with everyone being late. It wouldn’t have taken more than five seconds to drop some change. Most of the thousand people who passed him couldn’t even be bothered to look in his direction. I’ve lived in DC for years and I can tell you this sums up the general public sentiment. One word. Apathy.
part of the point would be, if you were unwilling to pause and listen to a superb violinist play exquisite music, just because it might make you a minute or two late … then you are a robot.
And I call BS on the “everyone was necessarily in a hurry” too. No doubt many of those people rushing by had time to stop at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or to pick up a Lotto ticket on their way to work. to appreciate something beautiful, nah.
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I’d be late for work to listen to him for 5-10 minutes. I’d tell my boss (with a straight face) that I was sorry for being late, but I would really be thinking, “It was worth every moment!”
At least the kids recognized the music as something worth watching. Good for them. Shame on their parents for pulling them away from an opportunity to learn how to appreciate good things.
We shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that most Americans are stupid, uncultured, unappreciative simpleton knuckleheads because this experiment has yet to be performed in other contries for comparison. Come to think of it, performances like this do exist on street corners in Boston/Cambridge, and people usually form crowds and make donations.
“It was all videotaped by a hidden camera. You can play the recording once or 15 times, and it never gets any easier to watch. Try speeding it up, and it becomes one of those herky-jerky World War I-era silent newsreels. The people scurry by in comical little hops and starts, cups of coffee in their hands, cellphones at their ears, ID tags slapping at their bellies, a grim danse macabre to indifference, inertia and the dingy, gray rush of modernity.
1. it’s a shame that life has become so unenjoyable for most people.
2. How much of the unusual, atypical, or abnormal do those government employees miss in a day at work?
I
This “experiment” was a failure of communication – plain and simple! I have read many comments about this – and I have blogged on it myself. If I were communting to my job on a chilly Friday morning in January – prior to 8:00Am – NOTHING would have stopped me – it would have broken my pattern.
I would suggest that the results MAY have been different if the “staged concert” were done on a Firday AFTERNOOn – when there was some “discretion” and “options” about staying to listen or hurry home for a cocktail, etc.
Type of music, quality of performance, stature of “un-announced” artist, etc. – These factors did not enter into the equation at 8:00Am on a chilly Friday morning in January.
Takeaway – consider the audience’s perspective before attemptin ANY communication!
A friend of mine sent his daughter to Juilliard. He was hoping to give her a promising career in subway station performance, but I bet he’s really kicking himself now š
This is an incredibly complex issue, as it deals with aspects as capricious as human attention in an information-saturated environment.
Having said that, I’ve seen a guy banging on paint buckets hold a crowd of dozens in the Herald Square Subway station.
Okay, I have to say it . . . I found his music loud and annoying. No, I don’t have any appreciation for classical music and would actually pay not to have to listen to it. Flame away.
What a surprise! Most Americans wouldn’t know a world-class violin player if he stuck his bow up their….you know. I love it that a teenage girl who has seen him perform in concert a few weeks before actually gave him $20.
Hmmm…reminds me of a Roger Whittaker song, “Oh No, Not Me”:
I walked a tunnel to a train, saw an old man in a drain,
raise up a bottle, put it to his lips. I turned around to walk away,
A mandolin began to play, his eyes were closed, he moved his
fingertips…
Oh No, Not me. There’s none so blind as those who will not see.
Oh No, Not me. The only one to hear his song was me.
People who don’t commute via subway might have a difficult time understanding. But I probably pass ten people a day asking for spare change, selling candy on the subway, begging for money on the subway, dancing for money, etc.
After a few years of this, the natural reaction is to just walk on. I probably wouldn’t have paused my iPod to even listen to this guy. It has nothing to do with musical appreciation.
Again, that may be difficult to understand if you don’t ride the subway every day in a major city.
During the trek to work, most of us plebeians are in that quasi āalmost on the clockā mode. The boss doesn’t own us, yet, but we still have an obligation to him. No, we don’t have the time to stop and dilly dally or smell the roses. Our routes are planned to make the connections, get our morning coffee and newspaper, and arrive at work on time. Even the three or four minutes we might have loved to spend listening to Joshua Bell, Eric Clapton, or Winston Marselis do their best is time that upsets our schedule.
So perhaps those elitists that don’t have to get up before six every morning and punch a clock (or the equivalent) won’t understand. There are some important things in life, and at 8:00 AM, unfortunately, getting to work is more important then listening to a solo in the subway. Having a job in order to pay the bills is more important to the majority of subway and bus riders then what some dilettante with too much time on his hands realizes.
If Joshua Bell tried his experiment after 6:00 on a Friday evening I’m sure the response would be much different.
I am a student at the school of music at Indiana University Bloomington (Where Joshua Bell is from and went to school) and I am not really surprised by these results. Everybody here knows him as he one of the schools most famous alumni. I know I would have looked at him and probably would have recgonized him. It sort of has me possibly looking for another major ha. It is that depressing even if it is not in the right venue. Classical music is going down the drain in the U.S. Of course there are so many International students at this school (and most others in the U.S.) so I believe it will live on in those other cultures. It is funny as another musician friend of mine and I were watching the movie Idiocracy and it seems like there is a possibility for the future to be like that which is scary.
I love this kind of music. I spend a couple grand a year to hear and see it live. That being said after watching this vidio I have to say this program was not a good fit for thiis venue. Street performing is a lot differant the consert hall performing. You have to play to your crowd if you expect the crowd to pay. It has nothing to do with taste. It has to do with venue.
Who the heck is this guy?! He wasn’t on American Idol and no one voted for him in any election so why WOULD Americans, politicians no less, know who he is?! About all they can see is a guy playing a violin in the morning!!! — bad timing! VERY bad timing!!!
It’s actually been a long time….but I have to pretty much go with Fusion on this one.
I think the results would be pretty much the same at any major city subway terminal at morning rush hour. But, I’ll bet it would be totally different at lunch time or after 5 p.m.. This was a set up…..for one purpose….to validate a preconcieved notion by the Washington Post showing the cultural ignorance of Americans.
Iāve seen a guy banging on paint buckets hold a crowd of dozens in the Herald Square Subway station.
Comment by Smartalix ā 4/14/2007 @ 5:56 pm
Now, that I’d like to see (maybe like Blue Man Group?)
This is a complex issue. Thanks, Smartalix, and #s 5, 7, 8 and 11. Oh, and #12 it’s Wynton Marsalis — bummer you’re on so tight a schedule.
Its a “I want to be shocked!” article. It makes the authors feel very superior to run such a test. That is why they chose rush hour: to make sure they will get the results they need to make the “required” headline.
Journalism at its worst.
Placed sufficiently out of context, even the greatest masterpiece can be ignored.
25. “Placed sufficiently out of context, even the greatest masterpiece can be ignored.”
I agree. I watched the video. Sure the guy was playing well, but people were not there to hear him. They were there to get somewhere else. The sole reason anyone goes to a subway is to leave it.
One guy was even nice enough to leave a tip. I just don’t see this as any indictment on US society other than we’re eager to get to work. Which isn’t really a bad thing.
This Experiment was more of a media stunt then anything else.
That can be said because, it was really poorly designed. One instance does not make an experiment. An experiment needs replications to demonstrate repeatability of the underlying laws. Science is all about result repeatability; no experimental repeatability, mean no prediction. No predictions means no Science.
Without knowing the laws of nature, we can’t make reliable predictions; we are back to believing it’s all magic.
Not that I expect the Washington Post to have a proper DOE (design of experiment); but, the fact that they take this single occurrence, (anecdotal) then extract a statement about people, is extremely disingenuous and dangerous (unless you think this is just for entertainment).
The method and analysis speaks more to the lack of quality in reporting and thinking at the Washington Post. It demonstrates nothing reliable about the people of DC.
If it was me, in the least I would have insisted on repeating the same experiment 2 times (keeping all other controls the same) in each location across different cities/state and across different countries. But that would cost money, and with today’s dictates of modern management by Wall Street (don’t spend money; do more with less), the Post is stuck with what they have on hand.
This story only shows the Press (the Washington Post) doesn’t need to spend money to write stories. This should be a clue about the reliabilty of the information from the Post.
It’s a shame some people actual believe they learned something in these reported results.
noname, you beat me to it… š
All the uncontrolled variables make this piece is an excellent object lesson in how not to conduct a social science experiment.
As suggested by your closing statement there, this sort of sloppy pseudo-science gives rise to a lasting, faulty impression of the scientific method and thereby dilutes respect for the entire scientific endeavor…
Speaking as a DC native and a music-lover with a background that includes enough knowledge and experience in the social sciences to make me dangerous, I think I can put my finger on a couple of explanatory factors.
One, the characterization of the audience is not really that far off the mark – mid-level bureaucrats indeed. Speaking empirically, the subjects in this case tend to be solidly middle-class conformists from the MD & VA suburbs with a lower-than-average interest in and knowledge of classical music and similar generally upper-class cultural expressions. Far more likely to recognize and enjoy John Williams than Bach, so to speak.
Two, even within the minor subset that is capable of recognition and appreciation, factors already mentioned are significant – a time of day when most Metro passengers at that station are usually on a tight, mandatory schedule, where their attention is necessarily elsewhere. These alone would tend to promote a subconscious process of ‘Metro station + solo musician = panhandler’ which is sufficient for most to not bother with elevation to conscious awareness, which would be prerequisite to noticing the quality of the performance, let alone the identity of the performer.
No, I have to go along with joshua’s meta-analysis.
“This was a set upā¦..for one purposeā¦.to validate a preconcieved notion by the Washington Post showing the cultural ignorance of Americans.”
Agreed. The only thing I feel I can take away from this “experiment” is the nature of the “experimenters'” deliberate bias – and from that, their motive is easily derived.
Americans, generally, are cultural cretins? Well, I wouldn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’… but this flimsy put-up job happens to provide no useful evidence for that conjecture, so I wonder – WTF’s the point?
Oh, please — from beginning to end, this was never presented as any sort of scientific exercise, so anyone who expected to see anything resembling adherence to scientific principles deserves to be sorely disappointed. Both Joshua Bell and the person who originally proposed this radical shift in musical performing context to Mr. Bell agreed that this was a stunt.
I found it to be an interesting new angle from which to view artistic appreciation, and seeing Bell’s own reaction to performing in such a drastically different venue was equally interesting. The lack of pre-validation from his audience along with other factors changed his own state of mind significantly, just as time pressures and pre-work thoughts affected the receptiveness of passersby.
With different expectations of the “experiment,” I think I got my money’s worth from the article it generated. I’m sorry that most of you seem to want refunds š
#29
Shezzh, I want more then a refund. I want the lost minutes. Can you give those back?
This is one of the best example of elitism I’ve seen in a while.
Oh no, these unsophisticated people don’t know who this “genius” “virtuoso” is! How uncouth! The savages! Those darn proles!
Besides basically being about how awesome the author thinks Bell is (seriously, did the author get paid by the word or is the author the president of the Bell fan club? I got sick of reading about how awesome Bell is and how great is violin is, skipped a few paragraphs and the article was still talking about how awesome Bell and his violin was) the entire article amounts to “These savages don’t appreciate fine art!” Go read Bourdieu.
Who are the people who are most likely to like Bell’s music? Who are the people least likely to take public transportation to work? Who are the people most likely to turn their nose up to someone on the street asking for money?
If you answered elitist snobs to all three of those questions you win a prize.
For a bonus, answer this question: Who are the people most likely to read this article and think it is a horrible shame that such a “genius” was ignored by the proletariat?
One final thing is that Badly Drawn Boy did the same thing in London a few years ago and made a video of it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2796723.stm I would be willing to bet that this is where the article writer got the idea. Badly Drawn Boy didn’t make much money either.
#27, noname,
You make some very good points about DOE. Where I disagree is yes quite often we can and do make snap judgments when presented with a singular occurrence. Reaching experimental standards worthy of inclusion in peer reviewed journals in not a requisite for publishing as a common interest story in a mass publication such as a newspaper. Nor do we need a scientifically designed experiment to make a conclusion.
Another problem with the an informal experiment such as this is what was the study about? Or even did the experiment even have a question in mind?
Again, you are correct in your comment. My stance would be not to read too much scientifically into the experiment or conclusions. It probably is just entertainment.