India’s expensive story with concert tickets

If you were in India and had 900,000 rupees ($10,800; £8,000), what would you buy? A car? A trip around the world? Diamond jewelry? Or a Coldplay concert ticket?

The British rock band are set to play three shows of their Music of the Spheres world tour in Mumbai next year and tickets are being sold at huge prices on resale platforms, after sold out in minutes on BookMyShow (BMS) – the concert’s official page. ticketing platform.

Tickets went on sale last Sunday and are priced between 2,500 rupees and 12,000 rupees. More than 10 million people competed to buy about 180,000 tickets.

Fans complained about hours-long digital queues and website crashes, but many also alleged that ticket sales were rigged as resellers had started selling tickets at five times the price – even up to 900,000 rupees – before they are released on the official website.

Earlier this month, the same thing happened with tickets for an Oasis concert in the UKwith the reseller charging more than £350 for a ticket priced at £135. But even then, the rising price of Coldplay tickets is still notable. To put this in perspective, Madonna charges £1,306.75 for VIP tickets to her Celebration tour and the best tickets for Beyoncé’s Renaissance concert sell for £2,400 .

These events have sparked conversation around ticket scaling in India, where people use bots or automation tools to skip queues and buy multiple tickets to sell on the selling platform. again. Fans are questioning whether the official website took appropriate steps to prevent this or whether they chose to take a different view.

BMS has denied any links with the agents and urged fans to avoid buying tickets from “unauthorized sources” as they may be fake, but this has not stopped people viewing the site suspiciously.

Fans have complained about having similar experiences when purchasing tickets for Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh upcoming concert. Tickets were released on Zomato Live, the concert organiser, earlier this month and after selling out, they started appearing on resale platforms for many times their original price.

Ticket scalping is illegal in India and experts say that while it is still possible, it is also possible that legitimate ticket buyers are selling their tickets through agents to Make a profit due to great demand.

Graphic designer Dwayne Dias was one of the lucky few who bought Coldplay concert tickets from the official website. He bought four tickets at 6,450 rupees each.

Since then, he has been approached by people willing to pay up to 60,000 rupees for a ticket. “If I want, I can sell out all the tickets and watch the concert in Korea [Coldplay’s upcoming touring destination]. This money will cover my travel expenses and I will be able to experience a new city,” he said.

While Coldplay ticket prices are shockingly high, huge demand for tickets to see famous international artists perform is not uncommon. In fact, the live music business in India has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years.

According to one reportConcerts generated a revenue of around Rs 8,000 crore last year, and by 2025, this is expected to grow by 25%. Brian Tellis, a veteran of the music business and one of the founders of the Mahindra Blues music festival, says concerts have become part of each individual’s – and the country’s – cultural currency. country.

Chart-toppers like Ed Sheeran, Alan Walker and Dua Lipa have performed in India recently and the latter two will perform again this year. “Like other industries, India is also a booming market for the music business. There is a large young demographic with enough money to spend. Everyone wants a piece of the pie ,” he said.

The surge in demand is evident in ticket prices and sales. Tellis said about a decade ago, 80% of production costs were paid by sponsors and 20% through ticket sales, but today the numbers have reversed.

“Attending a concert is a combination of bragging rights, being a conformist and being part of the scene,” he said. “There are also real music lovers who attend, but many people attend because they get caught up in the hype surrounding the show and they don’t want to feel left out.”

A few days before and after Coldplay concert tickets went on sale, social media was flooded with captivating Instagram footage of the band performing hits like The adventure of a lifetime And Fix you in packed stadiums, with fans singing along and transforming the venue ONE Starry sky with their LED bracelets. Influencers have been eloquent about their love for the band, and there’s been no shortage of Coldplay memes.

Industry sources told the BBC that target marketing plays a key role in ticket sales – a task handled by the promoter’s website. The more demand is created, the more ticket prices can increase. Organizing concerts is difficult because they often lose money, so when the opportunity arises, performers who can pay are taken advantage of to make a profit.

While some fans believe the government should take steps to control ticket prices, Tellis disagrees. “This [selling tickets] is entrepreneurship – it wouldn’t be right for the government to interfere. Because if you want to control revenue, you also have to control costs,” he said.

Despite the upward trajectory of India’s live music business, experts say the country still has a long way to go before it can match the international music scene.

“We have very few concert venues and they are not up to international standards,” Tellis said. “That is why artists perform less in India despite the huge demand.”

Dias and his friends recently went to Singapore to attend a Coldplay concert. He said the booking process went smoothly, the venue was top class and the crowd was well managed.

He’s not sure he’ll have a similar experience at DY Patil Stadium – the band’s concert venue in India. “First, it’s much smaller and crowds in India can be quite undisciplined,” he said. He was also concerned about the safety of the venue and whether crowds were properly managed at entry and exit points.

But for now, he’s holding on to his tickets and is ready to endure whatever lies ahead, just for the chance to see Chris Martin and company perform one more time.