2024 hits the right notes: Ed Sheeran, Diljit Dosanjh, Dua Lipa & Maroon 5 lead concert craze

MUMBAI: Live entertainment and concerts saw a major boom in India this year with tickets selling out within minutes and concert-goers willing to cough up exorbitant money to see their favourite artistes like Ed Sheeran, Diljit Dosanjh and Dua Lipa up close.

Young audiences are driving the demand for such events and experts believe it is a new dawn for live entertainment in India.

A year-end report by BookMyShow revealed that 30,687 live events were organised across 319 cities, noting an 18 per cent increase in live entertainment consumption compared to the previous year.

According to a spokesperson of Zomato Live, the online ticketing arm of food and grocery delivery firm Zomato, India is becoming a hotspot for music concerts.

“India's growing economy and passionate fanbase have made it an attractive destination for international tours. For music enthusiasts, attending a concert in India is often more convenient and cost-effective than travelling abroad.

"This shift in consumer behaviour has further bolstered the industry's growth. Also, both international and domestic artists including Bryan Adams, Diljit Dosanjh and Shreya Ghoshal among others are expanding their tours to include Tier one and Tier two cities, driven by increasing consumer interest,” the spokesperson told PTI.

The concert venues are packed, whether it is a concert by Punjabi music artists like Dosanjh, AP Dhillon and Karan Aujla, or international musicians like Boney M, Dua Lipa and Bryan Adams.

A teenager at an AP Dhillon concert perfectly summed up the shifting perspective of young Indians when it comes to entertainment.

“Movies nowadays are not worth watching so I’ll pick concerts over movies. Tickets are expensive but that’s okay,” the teenager told PTI.

Singer Sonu Nigam, who tours round-the-year in India and abroad, said it is great that the country is an emerging new market for concerts.

"India is a good market for concerts, for artists and I’m very happy about that. Everybody is busy, anybody who knows his job is busy,” Nigam, who recently performed for the centenary concert for Mohammed Rafi, told PTI.

Music lovers travel miles, spend thousands of rupees, and stand for hours to watch a live performance of their favourite artists.

Reminiscing about attending major shows of artists like Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and Guns N’ Roses in Mumbai, Pune-based Ritu told PTI, “It’s an immersive experience to be attending the concerts. When you sing along there’s a connection between you and your favourite artist, it all feels magical.”

For the younger generation, live concerts are an important part of the culture.

Palak, a college student, recounted how she saw Justin Bieber perform live when she was just 13.

"I love attending concerts, for the vibe, energy and most importantly the love for the artists,” Palak told PTI.

The concert calendar for 2024 kicked off with a bang in the country, featuring Nick Jonas and the Jonas Brothers who celebrated their debut in India during Lollapalooza India 2024.

Since then, music fans have been treated to a series of unforgettable performances like Ed Sheeran's record-breaking "+-=÷x Tour". He strummed his guitar and jammed on the popular track ‘Tera Ni Main Lover’ with Dosanjh.

Dua Lipa also surprised fans in India with a mash up of her hit track "Levitating" and "Woh Ladki" from Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Baadshah".

“The India leg of Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking +-=÷x Tour in March earlier this year left audiences basking in the 'afterglow' and marking the summer of 2024 as one to remember,” Anil Makhija, COO - Live Entertainment and Venues, BookMyShow told PTI.

“Also, we had a packed concert for Maroon 5’s debut India show. Despite being held on a weekday, the event was a spectacular celebration of the band’s iconic hits, attracting fans from all corners of the country for an unforgettable experience,” he said.

The demand for live entertainment is no longer confined to major metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, as places like Surat, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, and Kochi are becoming thriving hubs for concerts.

“In 2024, tier 2 cities experienced a dramatic 682 per cent growth in live events, including markets like Kanpur, Shillong and Gandhinagar, signalling a democratisation of entertainment access across the country,” Makhija said.

Today concert-goers are willing to splurge significantly on ticket prices that range from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 35,000, sometimes even more, for an opportunity to see artists perform live.

“Ticket prices vary enormously depending on the artist, venue, seating location, and demand. Today acts like Arijit Singh, Diljit Dosanjh Dosanjh and Shreya Ghoshal have a similar ticket scale to international acts like Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5 and Dua Lipa. Tickets start anywhere from INR 2,000/- and can go into lakhs depending on the category of the ticket,” Deepak Chaudhary, founder of Eva Live, one of the premier event and festival companies in India, told PTI.

The boom in live events also highlighted concerns about ticket black marketing, as seen with the highly-anticipated Coldplay concert in Mumbai scheduled for January 2025.

The tickets for the concerts got sold out within minutes, leaving many fans frustrated, some of whom later voiced their anger on social media. There were also reports of tickets being resold on the black market at exorbitant prices, which triggered a probe by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

Makhija said BookMyShow works closely with authorities to ensure that concerts are executed smoothly and with minimal disruption.

“As demand for live entertainment increases across cities both big and small, enabling them with better infrastructure and logistics to host more live events be it music concerts, stand-up comedy gigs, theatricals, etc, will need co-operation from all stakeholders and will be the cornerstone in the building and thriving of this community experience."

The highly-anticipated Coldplay concert in India is touted to be the biggest draw of 2025.

“Coldplay’s India tour has seen fans from over 500 cities and 28 States making their way to Ahmedabad, a testament to the magnetic pull of live entertainment,” Makhija said.

The Chris Martin-led band has three shows at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19 and 21, and the fourth show will be held at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on January 25 as part of its “Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025”.

In 2025, Sheeran will also return to India with his Mathematics Tour and is set to perform in six cities.