When Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the “concert economy” following the success of British rock band, Coldplay in India, it was a clear indication of the opportunity in the form of a huge market. India has hosted live shows for at least four decades but just the scale of Coldplay stands out and remains unprecedented.
Easily, the most important takeaway is the fact that distance was not a deterrent. Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium played host to a two-night performance (called the Music of the Spheres World Tour held on January 25 and 26) had over 2.2 lakh fans. This made it the largest stadium concert of the century. The shows in Ahmedabad were preceded by one in Navi Mumbai’s D Y Patil Stadium.
Even the most conservative estimates suggest that at least 70 per cent of the audience in Ahmedabad came from outside the city. Take for instance, Ravi Joshi, who travelled by train form Mumbai only to save the money for hotel accommodation and the cost of tickets. The family of tour made the ride and paid Rs 6,000 per head for one show and a whopping Rs 25,000 at the hotel. “The same room is today available at Rs 6,000 but this is once in a lifetime,” he exclaims.
The secret to making the show successful lies in how much it can be magnified. In the case of Coldplay, Disney + Hotstar did a live streaming and the numbers tell a story. There were 83 lakh views and 16.5 crore minutes of watch time. “This seamless digital experience transformed living rooms into virtual arenas demonstrating how cutting-edge technology can unite a nation in shared entertainment experiences.”
Andre Timmins, Co-Founder & Director Wizcraft International Entertainment, a name in the events business, is understandably buoyant on what lies ahead. “The overall entertainment business will be taken a lot more seriously, in the sense that it is not just about cricket anymore. The success of Coldplay can easily lead to Taylor Swift or Beyonce coming since they all now want a piece of the Indian market,” he says.
The real opportunity lies in not just the success of the show. According to him, the monetisation lies in areas like merchandising and what goes on to YouTube. “These are steady long-term revenue options and can get magnified. It is a remarkably effective way of building a fan base and the success in Ahmedabad proves that nothing is linked to or bound by location.”
A FICCI-EY media and entertainment sector says the organized live events segment grew 20 per cent in 2023 to reach Rs 8,800 crore, crossing its pre-COVID levels. “Growth was driven by government events, personal events and weddings, and ticketed events, including several international formats,” it states. The interesting part is that 63% of the marketers surveyed (as a part of the report) planned to increase their events and activations spends over the next two years. “Consequently, we expect the live events segment to grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent over the next three years to reach Rs 14,300 crore by 2026,” it says.
The story emerging from relatively smaller centres or those not easily associated with live events is an important development. “Growth will be driven by premium and international properties as well as opportunities in tier-II markets, such as Surat, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Vizag, Lucknow, Patna, Ayodhya, Trivandrum and Cochin,” states the report. Clearly, there is no limit to this big opportunity.