India’s Love for Live Concerts Still Faces Operational Hurdles 

Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Diljit Dosanjh – their concerts have been the talk of the town lately. The demand and excitement that are visible with this surge talk a lot about Indian’s love for live concerts. 

27 year old Shreya Mukherjee, who currently resides in Bangalore, says that she loves going to live concerts because of the experience. “I believe it's the experience; you don't always find people who value the same music like you personally, so I feel it's a great feeling to witness so many people under the same roof bonding on the same lines,” she adds. Mukherjee is all set to go to the upcoming Coldplay concert that will be conducted in January next year. 

However, Mukherjee’s experience with regards to booking tickets wasn’t great. She isn’t the only one. Several people have complained about tickets being sold out in a few minutes on BookMyShow or the website crashing. 

In September this year, the BookMyShow website crashed a few minutes before the booking started. What followed after a few days was skyrocketing prices of tickets, black marketing, and more. We will get into that. 

However, the dissatisfaction of fans does not end only with ticket booking. Fans who attended the concert have also complained about mismanagement. 

Take Diljit Dosanjh's concert in New Delhi on October 26 and 27, for example. An avid lover of concerts, 27-year-old Shambhavi Singh from Delhi, who attended the event, described the concert as 'very poorly' organised. “The ticketing process was disorganized, with no clear directions or map for entry gates, causing confusion and long walks for attendees,” she said. 

Additionally, food and water prices were excessively inflated, with a bottle of water costing Rs 200 instead of Rs 20, and basic snacks priced at Rs 500 or more, as per several fans.

Read: Zomato's ‘Book Now, Sell Anytime’ Feature for Dua Lipa Concert Sparks Debate on Ticket Black Marketing

26-year-old Debarupa De Biswas from Lucknow, who recently attended a concert by singer Papon in Delhi, also voiced similar concerns. “As a woman, I felt unsafe because of the lack of proper crowd control and security measures.” Biswas further added that without enough female guards or proper crowd management, there was a real risk of something going wrong, especially for women. 

The going out segment has been expanding rapidly in India. There is no doubt about it. Just to give some numbers, nearly 40,000 people reportedly attended Diljit Dosanjh’s concert. 

Further, the organised segment grew by 20 per cent, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released in March 2023 by FICCI-EY. Additionally, a report published by EY in 2023 states that the Indian music industry generates a total of Rs 12,000 crore, both directly and indirectly. 

“Live concerts have become a significant draw for our membership holders. Over the past year, we've seen an upsurge in requests for exclusive concert access—particularly for high-profile artists and events,” said Manoj Adlakha, founder & CEO, RedBeryl. Adlakha’s company is a luxury lifestyle management company.

Read: Zomato's Acquisition of Paytm's Entertainment and Ticketing Business Disrupts KKR's BookMyShow Strategy

This demand for premium concert experiences highlights a shift towards experiential luxury, where our members prioritise unique, unforgettable moments. 

With demand being there, what is the issue? Why do fans leave with disappointment? Several issues pop up when we talk about experiencing live concerts. One being technical issues. This even led to the cancellation of comedian Trevor Noah’s show in September 2023. The show that was organised by BookMyShow was cancelled at the last moment, leading to anger amongst fans. 

“We tried everything, but because the audience can’t hear the comedians on stage, there’s literally no way to do a show. We’ll make sure all ticket holders receive a full refund, and again, I’m so sorry for both the inconvenience and disappointment; this has never happened to us before,” Noah wrote on X.

Speaking about this experience, Abinash Mohapatra, a stand-up comedian based out of Delhi, said that in the case of stand-up comedy and similar art forms, things tend to run smoothly when events are held in a closed venue, like an auditorium. 

“The real issues arise when we move these events to open spaces. The problem is, there are still only a limited number of people in India who can consistently sell out auditoriums or stadiums,” he added. 

Mohapatra further added that organisers, for the most part, don’t have the expertise to manage the logistics of large outdoor events. “The situation often worsens when part-time organisers, eager to cash in on the popularity of big acts like Coldplay, try to host concerts without sufficient infrastructure,” added Mohapatra. 

Another problem is infrastructure as per Shreyas Srinivasan, the founder of Paytm Insider (the movie ticketing platform that was recently sold to Zomato). Srinivasan is not associated with Insider anymore. 

“We don’t have the kind of world-class venues in India that are needed to host major concerts and events. For example, issues like parking, access to venues, and proper facilities for large events are lacking,” said Srinivasan. Most of the venues we have for events were originally built for other purposes, such as sports stadiums, he added. 

Experts have also pointed out that the demand to see the performances of top artists will increase faster than the number of tickets available. This, in turn, will lead to a demand-supply mismatch. 

“These events often sell out within minutes, with demand far outstripping supply. More people will want to attend these events, but the number of tickets available will grow at a slower rate, leading to increased competition for tickets,” said Srinivasan. 

However, not everything remains challenging. According to Srinivasan, licensing was once a major issue, but improvements have been made with the implementation of GST and the removal of entertainment taxes. That said, some regulatory hurdles still exist, such as the need to obtain multiple licenses for police clearance, alcohol sales, and fire safety. “The best solution would be to have a single window system for all licenses, so event organisers don’t have to deal with multiple agencies,” added Srinivasan. 

The demand for big artists is increasing. With Taylor Swift and Coldplay stealing the show, what about small artists? Artists have pointed out that smaller acts, even with significant followings, struggle to get the exposure needed for their shows to sell out. 

“Regarding the commission structure, BookMyShow charges artists around 12 per cent per ticket, which can be quite high, especially for smaller artists. For an artist, such as a stand-up comedian, who is building their following and promoting the show through social media, paying a 12 per cent commission feels excessive,” added Mohapatra. 

Monopoly and Black Marketing 

A pertinent concern expressed by many has been the prevailing black marketing of tickets that exists in this space. For the upcoming Coldplay concert, a ticket that costs Rs 12,500 was being sold at more than Rs 3 lakh cost at several reseller sites. An investigation is already going on in this regard. The investigation started after Advocate Amit Vyas, Founding Partner of Vertices Partners, filed a case against the issue with the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police. 

As per Mohapatra, one of the reasons behind this black marketing is the monopoly that exists in the ticketing space. 

“Right now, the system is tilted heavily in favor of BookMyShow. Ideally, there should be three or four major platforms for ticket sales to create a fairer market and reduce unfair practices,” he added. 

Currently, BookMyShow enjoys a dominance with around 75 per cent of the market share in the movie ticketing space, as per Bernstein. Right now, the biggest deal that happened in the segment was when Zomato bought Paytm Insider (Paytm’s movie and ticketing space) for Rs 2,048 crore in an all-cash deal. Both Zomato and BookMyShow refused to participate in the story. 

However, not everyone agrees with this statement. Experts argue that the perception of monopoly is more related to international events. “BookMyShow does have a dominant position in high-profile concerts because they have evolved into concert promoters themselves. They often book artists and bring them to India. But in other categories, like sports or regional concerts, they don’t hold a monopoly,” added Srinivasan. 

With the demand in the segment increasing, it will be interesting to see how the space navigates the challenges.