Baird says a group of musicians collaborated with T officials to draft guidelines years ago, but the MBTA has yet to adopt them.

"If we have that signed and delivered, we won't be vulnerable," Baird says. "We're trying to set up a consistent public policy."

But MBTA Director of Communications Peter Diamond says that his office treats the musicians fairly.

Diamond says the MBTA won't agree formally to the guidelines until a verdict is reached in a currently pending lawsuit.

He says the T was sued by "Jews for Jesus" when the organization was forbidden to distribute flyers inside the subway turnstiles. Jews for Jesus, however, sued the MBTA, arguing that the subway is overstepping its bounds.

Diamond says the case has been "a major impediment to moving ahead" with a subway musician contract. "In the meantime," he says, "We issue a letter of permission for musicians to play in an unrestricted way anywhere they choose."

"We look at musicians as an amenity for passengers," Diamond says. "On the other hand, if it's too loud or there is a safety problem, then they can have a detrimental effect."

He says the MBTA currently grants three-month permits to any musician who completes the proper paper work.

Although Diamond dismisses many musicians' complaints as "absurd," new conflicts continue to arise.

According to Elliot Gibbons, who often performs at the Harvard Square station, the MBTA has tried to stop musicians from selling cassettes in the subway, although currently they are permitted to do so.

And in some cases there is competition for the attention of subway riders.

In 1990, the MBTA began playing "musak" at around the winter holidays--a time especially crucial for musicians trying to make bucks. According to Baird, the MBTA relented only after the Guild appealed to then Governor Michael S. Dukakis and State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70.

Diamond acknowledges that the T should have warned the musicians about the musak. "We promised not to play holiday music until we had rethought the issue and given [musicians] proper notice," he says.

But Diamond defends the original decision to broadcast the musak.

"We started playing music at Christmastime to improve the holiday spirit," he says. "It was done with an eye to making the T friendlier."