‘The Voice’ audition for Istanbul ferries

The street musicians of Istanbul, who have gained place in the iconic İstiklal, Bahariye and Bağdat avenues for a long time, have been participating in tight competitions to take stage in the intercity ferries traversing the waters of the Bosphorus.

Ferry musicians play on four lines connecting the European and Anatolian sides of the metropolis. They are not paid by the municipality; they only earn the money busked by admiring passengers.

"Every musician or band plays for three hours. They switch to another line in every three months. The lines they will play are determined by lot. A musician takes stage at the ferries starting from 9 a.m. until the ferry rides finish," said jury member Tunç Baydar, the coordinator of the ferry musicians, ahead of auditioning 31 musicians and bands in a hall at the Kadıköy ferry port on Feb. 18.

"The music market has become poorer since the 1990's and the beginning of the 2000's. Some of the street musicians are much better than those in the music market," said Nazım Çınar, jury member and an ethnomusicologist at Üsküdar University.

"These friends reflect the finest tunes of Anatolia in their music. They share musical pieces from different regions of our country with the audience. It is very valuable. I believe that we will select the best playing and singing musicians," he said.

When the musicians aged between 17 and 80 filled in the hall and the jury members took their seats in the next room, the scene resembled a small-scaled version of the famous television show The Voice.

"We have been working as street musicians for about 18 months. We are fed up with quarrels with the municipal police officers. We were fined for 153 liras [about $25] for violating the law of misdemeanor. When we...