It was increasingly common during the fifteenth century for towns to include minstrels, also known as waits, among the lesser bureaucracy or to engage minstrels for particular occasions. This was an age when medieval urban ceremonialism reached a peak, as social stratification hardened and a need was felt to make and reinforce wealth-based social status in public settings. It was also an age when towns became increasingly caught up in the national political conflict, and felt it advisable to win the favour and support, or ward off the disfavour, of powerful and influential men by sending them presents, or hosting them at banquets which were often accompanied by musical entertainment.

If employees of the city, minstrels were expected to wear some kind of uniform, or decoration, indicative of their status. In 1470 mention is made of a silver badge and silver collar as part of these accoutrements. They evidently received an annual fee from the city, along with the proceeds of a levy on householders, although the latter may have been difficult to collect: in 1459 the minstrels had to petition the leet to appoint an "honest man" from each ward to accompany them when they made the rounds to collect their quarterly wages.

Many minstrels were itinerant, earning their living through commissions wherever they could find them. As employees, Coventry's minstrels were expected to be available when needed, however. Thus, in 1467 they were instructed not to go out of the city to undertake private engagements, with the exception of those for abbots or priors whose houses were within a ten-mile radius of the city.