Live music is taking center stage in India
Despite its size and young population, India is often left out when major international music artists tour. But there are hopes that investment in better venues and transportation, and tax cuts for cheap tickets, will attract stars and music fans alike.
This story was produced by our colleagues at the BBC.
When major international artists plan their world tours, India has often been left out. Now, that’s starting to change. As the country invests in better venues, transportation and staging, more and more musicians are heading there to try to break into the multimillion dollar market.
In March, 50,000 people headed to Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai. They were there to see Ed Sheeran. He sang in Punjabi for the first time with Indian singer Diljit Dosanjh, and the video went viral with more than 50 million views.
Sachin was there and enjoyed every minute. “He was so electric and charming, I had the best night of my life,” he said.
Ed Sheeran is not the only one to play on that stage. Over the last 12 months, the Jonas Brothers, Royal Blood and Irish band Westlife have all energized India’s live music scene.
Ashish Hemrajani is the co-founder of BookMyShow, India’s most popular online ticket platform for live events. They put on shows, as well as sell tickets across sports, theater, live music and film.
Over the past 10 years, India’s entertainment industry has rapidly changed from one that’s focused on movies to music. “13.5 million Indians are stepping out for events, outside of movies, on an annualized basis,” Hemrajani said.
Since 2022, live music has been BookMyShow’s fastest-growing category, contributing to 25% of their revenue.
But Hemrajani said the weather can be a challenge. “It’s a country where six months of the year it’s either too hot or it’s raining, and there aren’t any indoor venues for live entertainment.”
“One of the things we’re doing is taking earlier created venues for sports like cricket and seeing if we can use it as a multi-use venue,” he added.
In addition to building new stages and developing better transport routes, India has also scrapped a tax on all event tickets less than $6. That’s made a big difference to people like Arjun Sagar Gupta, who owns the Piano Man, a music bar with three venues across Delhi.
“A lot of our shows fall below that,” he said. “So it just makes the entry point for a potential audience member easier.”
Gupta thinks the growing appetite for live concerts in India is partly down to music becoming more accessible. “When we were kids, you know, we were at a shop buying cassettes and CDs, and we were at the beck and call of the distributor, what they decided would sell in India.”
But now streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have changed all that, he added.
India also has a ready-made base of young music fans — more than 40% of the population is under the age of 25, according to Pew Research Center. But they’re still waiting to see some of the biggest names in music perform live.
Beyoncé and Taylor Swift haven’t yet added India to their global tours. But the music industry — and their fans there — are hoping that will change very soon.