While the STM is not yet able to allow its users to instantly pay for their entry by pressing their credit card on the sensor of the turnstile, some musicians in the corridors of the metro are more resourceful with technology.
What was my surprise when I heard subway musicians offer spectators ways to easily deposit money by Visa, Mastercard, Interac, PayPal or Gofundme.
“For people to use electronic payment, it really has to be uncomplicated and done in as simple a step as throwing a bill or a dime in a hat,” musician Curtis Thorpe tells me.
I went to see Mr. Thorpe perform at Place-des-Arts station on Thursday noon to observe the reaction of the public in front of his Square electronic payment terminal attached to the end of a tripod.
“Tap to donate $4,” it reads. [en anglais] on the poster of the artist from Nova Scotia, who plays the soufflé (hammered dulcimer), a little-known traditional instrument of the string family that intrigues passers-by.
The Square terminal does not go unnoticed either.
“A lot of people ask me if it’s a real machine and they find it hard to believe. Others are surprised, take a photo and send me a thumbs up to salute my initiative.
Since the machine is intended for a series of one-time transactions and not for pre-programmed automatic tips, Mr. Thorpe has to resort to an app on his phone that resets his terminal every five minutes.
“It was an Australian tourist who told me that in his country, it was normalizing, this way of paying street musicians.”
He bought his used terminal for $300 in the middle of last summer and he estimates that he paid for it in three weeks.
Need
“It is necessary to accept electronics because people have less and less cash on them and, when they feel generous and want to give, they are happy to be able to do so with their telephone. says singer Jorie, whose face and voice are well known in front of Notre-Dame Basilica and the Gay Village.
Jorie does not have a Square terminal.
“I would be afraid that someone would steal it from me!” she exclaims.
Instead, she uses a QR code that leads to the GoFundMe crowdfunding account called “Jorie-Création Album & Onewomanshow”, which allows you to donate to help her make her album.
“When people like my voice and want to encourage me, it allows them not only to give me, but to follow my project.”
More cash
As for cellist Philippe Mius d’Entremont, his QR code leads to a page of his company Cello Ex Machina, where you can make donations to him through PayPal.
“It happens that I am paid like this, but rarely, because not everyone has a PayPal account,” says Mr. d’Entremont.
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
Cellist Philippe Mius d’Entremont has been playing on the metro since 2001 and uses a QR code that redirects people to his PayPal account for electronic tips.
The vast majority of under received remain in cash.
“It would be nice if Square gave their terminal an option for street performers, like us, who can’t stop playing when people pay,” says Thorpe.
