Barcelona metro: a space for musical talents

The Barcelona metro is a stage. Live music is played throughout the city, except that in this case, the public rarely stops to listen.  

Throughout the years, Barcelona's metro has encouraged and increased the possibilities for musicians to perform in metro stations. The project of 'Music in the metro' started in 2001 allowed for more than 600 musicians to perform in the metro corridors. 

Among the dozens of metro musicians performing every day, Mikha Violin, a 53-year-old Russian musician, and Ermile Lvidze, 69, from Georgia, agreed to take a few minutes break to speak to Catalan News about their lives and motivations. 

Mikha emigrated to Barcelona after touring Europe to try to make a living out of playing his guitar when he "had an opportunity” to regularize his immigration status. Now, he is "making a living out of playing music" notably in the metro. 

Ermile has been playing in the metro for 18 years after living in Valencia. Currently planning to go back to Georgia, he said he "will keep playing for around two or three more years and then go back." "Because here, I'm alone", he added. Having lost his wife recently, he wishes to join his children and nephews in Georgia. 

Musicians in the Barcelona metro come from all over the world and play different music styles. Ermile plays more classical music while Mikha plays grunge and rock. According to Ermile, you find very different musicians from piano to flamenco, but younger people tend to play more rock and pop. 

How to play in Barcelona's metro 

In Barcelona, musicians playing in the metro are selected beforehand and allocated timeslots. There is a specific organization in charge of regularizing street and metro musicians to guarantee them an opportunity to play in one of the 51 designated locations, indicated by the sign 'Músic al metro'.  

To pass the "suitability test" organized by TMB (operating company behind the Barcelona metro), the musicians perform in front of a jury of teachers from a musical school in Barcelona. They evaluate the capacity of the musician to play different songs for two hours and ensure the diversity of genres and styles in the metro. 

Mikha Violin says that regularization is "a good thing": "I can come and play, and nobody is going to chase me, police or security." 

The association AMUC – Barcelona Street and Metro Musicians Association – organizes the selected musicians and accompanies them throughout their practice. More than 80 musicians regularly play in the metro or in the streets of Barcelona. 

"I discovered AMUC when I arrived in Barcelona in 2006," Ermile Lvidze says. "There is no downside, we have the possibility of earning something. I wouldn't have spent this much time here otherwise." 

Pros and cons of the metro scene 

Rain, wind, heat: the metro has a clear advantage in offering protection from weather conditions for the musicians.  

For Ermile Lvidze, at 69 years old, being able to play in a specific place regularly, throughout the year, is comfortable. "Here bad weather doesn't bother you, and if there are tourists outside, they come here too," he explained. "I prefer to play longer in the metro, only in the summer do I play outside but no more than four months per year." 

But playing in the metro is not as easy as it could seem. For comfort and stability, you often jeopardize your chance of recognition and opportunities to grow your career.  

Mikha warns against the indifference of the metro users. "The street is a different thing; it's more like a concert. But in the metro, you play kind of in the corner, being an invisible man," he explained. 

With people in a hurry, it is difficult and a long endeavor to make enough money. Ermile says that "if that's not enough, you have to play more, there is no other way out," which encourages musicians to make the most of their attributed timeslots. 

Many musicians encountered play almost non-stop and have few minutes to spare. 

Ermile points out that "some young people are in a hurry" to get recognition and higher revenues, but in the metro, "you have to play a lot," he points out. "Playing on the street is better to get something out." 

Each year, newcomers take their chances at the selection and start playing in the metro. However, many of them give up. By the end of the year, most of the musicians playing are locals, or people like Ermile and Mikha who have been in the city for a long time. 

"There are difficult times, and some musicians want to get a lot of money. But people have no obligation to give us money. It doesn't work like that here," Ermile explained.  

For Mikha, playing in the metro is an opportunity to increase his earnings considering the difficulty of obtaining contacts and booking gigs - a necessary means to an end for him when he arrived in Barcelona on a visa. 

"I'd rather play well-paid concerts instead of being in the metro," he says. "But it's alright, my ambition was to be a musician all my life and I am." 

Ultimately, what matters to them is being able to get by while pursuing their passion: "without my guitar, I can't live," concluded Ermile Lvidze.