Seems like everyone on your social media feed has been to a concert recently? If you have FOMO or fear missing out on these experiences, an Instagram page launched earlier this month is offering to tag you in concert videos to make it seem like you’re attending a live music experience. All these courses at very low prices, starting from ₹99.
This perhaps sums up how 2024 has indeed been the year of concerts in India. We started with Lollapalooza in Mumbai, where Sting, Halsey and Keane took the stage, Marshmello’s India tour, a multi-city, comprehensive tour in Mumbai headlined by Ed Sheeran, Cigarettes After Sex, Alan Walker, Dua Lipa, Maroon 5, and Brian Visit Adams. Punjabi music stars Karan Aujla and AP Dhillon have almost finished their tour here, and everyone’s favorite Diljit Dosanjh will perform his last show of the much-hyped Dil-Luminati Tour in Guwahati. There are also many music festivals including the annual favorites Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival, Magnetic Fields and Sunburn. K-pop fans also rejoiced, as singers Bam Bam, Suho, Hyolyn, B.I., Eric Nam and The Rose performed in India. If this breathless list sounds extensive, it’s poised to get even bigger in the coming year.
“Everyone wants a piece of the concert pie, and wants to be part of the moment,” says Samarth, who goes by @iamstake on X (formerly Twitter) and tracks live music experiences. He added, “It’s really interesting to see how many people, especially people in small towns, are interested in live music experiences.”
British songwriter and singer Ed Sheeran performing at a concert in Mumbai
As someone who has been regularly posting updates on concerts for several years, Samarth has seen increased interest in his content, with people becoming more involved and even promoting his offers for concert tickets. They are also being contacted through credit cards to donate. He says he is thrilled to see many international artists taking risks for the Indian market. “DJ and music producer Martin Garrix will perform a stadium show in Mumbai on Holi next year. A stadium show is something unexpected and special for an EDM artist, but I expect it to be a huge hit,” he says. In 2024, EDM virtuoso Alan Walker’s Walkerworld Tour, organized by Sunburn across 10 cities, made history as the highest-selling tour by a global artist in India.
Karan Aujla and Vicky Kaushal on stage
The collaboration on stage, says Samarth, has been another point of excitement for the concert attendees. While Ed Sheeran brought Diljit Dosanjh on stage in March, AP Dhillon made an appearance at Karan Aujla’s concert, with Vicky Kaushal also shaking a leg with Karan on stage and singing along with him. The opening acts have become equally diverse, with Black & White opening for Delhi Indie Project, Best Kept Secret, Vidya Vox and Bryan Adams at various venues.
FOMO, spending and more
Statistics are also showing this increase. In its year-end report, BookMyShow, which offered 30,687 live events including concerts across the country, reported an 18% growth in consumption of live events in 2024. Around 4.77 lakh times, event watchers chose to travel to different cities for live music concerts. For example, with Coldplay’s performance in Ahmedabad, people from 500 cities booked tickets, of which 21% of buyers were from Mumbai, 13% from Bengaluru and 11% from Delhi. Fans are also willing to spend more; BookMyShow has recorded a 123% increase in fans choosing the premium experience at live events.
Barsika, a fan who traveled from northeast India to attend a Dua Lipa concert, poses for a photo in Mumbai, India
For stakeholders, there are many reasons for the surge. “On a macro level, the live entertainment industry is witnessing a significant change in consumer behavior due to reasons such as FOMO, OTT fatigue and increased digital consumption. “Promoters like us have realized that consumer purchases have increased by at least 30 to 40%,” says Deepak Chaudhary, founder and managing director of EVA Live, promoter of the Bryan Adams Tour. “We are seeing the steady rise of Indian artists like Dosanjh and Karan Aujla, and indie musicians like Prateik Kuhad becoming extremely popular here,” he explains.
Deepak, the man responsible for bringing Bryan Adams to India for the country’s biggest music tour this year by an international artist, also says it was a conscious decision to include cities like Kolkata and Shillong in the tour apart from the usual Mumbai. Delhi place.
“Big cities have bigger venues, sponsors and less exposure, but we are seeing that viewership is increasing in smaller cities. For example, in Shillong we also got a lot of support from the government and in Kolkata, we easily sold tickets for the Bryan Adams concert,” he says. Venues for his upcoming Arijit Singh tour include Jaipur, Cuttack, Chandigarh and Indore and Deepak says that once the announcement was made, lakhs of music lovers immediately expressed interest in buying tickets.
traveling within the country
While the year started with fans flying out of the country to see Coldplay and Taylor Swift in Singapore, concert announcements from big names in India meant that access became much easier. People came from all over the country to see Dua Lipa perform in Mumbai and even Bryan Adams traveled to Shillong to experience the music and see the city. When Coldplay announced their tour, a true battle broke out across the cities, as people attempted to get to one of their shows in Mumbai and later Ahmedabad. The increase in demand for tickets for Diljit’s shows in Chandigarh and Delhi meant that many people could not make it. Get the tickets and are planning to travel to Guwahati for their final show now.
“Big concert promoters like Bookmyshow, Insider and others have created a certain comfort level, so more artists are turning to India. With better resources, these names do a better job than independent event managers,” says Roshan Abbas, founder of Kommune, a culture collective that works with artists, creators, brands and other partners.
Echoing Deepak’s point, Roshan also emphasizes how Indian musicians are taking their music abroad. “The concert ecosystem thrives heavily on this type of signaling. A large number of concert goers are also GenZ, who are looking for an experience. They are even ready to take a loan to attend a concert here,” he says.
However, the surge is not without its concerns. Concert goers like Samarth highlight the need for a streamlined ticketing system where prices are not seen to rise significantly between sales stages. “Zomato now has a feature where you can resell tickets on the same platform and that’s a step in the right direction,” he says.
Complaints regarding infrastructure are also increasing. Traffic jams, bathroom availability, and venues not being optimal for hosting an experiential event have become topics of discussion among regular concertgoers. There were complaints of phone theft at recent concerts and Diljit Dosanjh spoke about the need for better concert infrastructure in India at his concert in Chandigarh.
“Most venues that hold concerts are not equipped with proper sound, vantage points, and do not have adequate entry or exit points. The stadiums, grounds and exhibition halls were not here for concerts,” explains Roshan. He says venues like Jio World Gardens or the upcoming Phase 1 project conceptualizing a world-class concert arena in Bengaluru are good examples of the type of venues needed for the future.
Diljit Dosanjh during India tour
He estimates that the concert blitz of artists including Dua Lipa, Bryan Adams, Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla and AP Dhillon has earned more than ₹609 crore in the last three months. “It’s a personal reckoning and I definitely see it getting bigger. Now that the convenience of online shopping has made shopping easier, the experience has to match it on all fronts, from music to infrastructure,” he concluded.
published – December 27, 2024 10:25 am IST
