Why world stars are now conquering India

“Please come to my city!”

A familiar call from music lovers around the world hoping to see their favorite artists come to their hometown.

However, fans in India have often seen this appeal fall on deaf ears.

Artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Arctic Monkeys perform the country’s weekly Spotify album chartswhere Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) spent 217 consecutive weeks.

Many world-famous musicians have left the country.

But that now seems to be changing.

Dua Lipa’s recent performance in Mumbai went viral and Coldplay will soon begin their tour – nine years after their last visit to India.

Her dates include two shows in Ahmedabad, where more than 100,000 people are expected to attend each evening.

“Having this experience in our own country is really cool to see it happening more and more,” music fan and emerging artist Anoushka Maskey tells BBC Newsbeat.

Demand for live music appears to be increasing in India, with ticketing platform BookMyShow reporting 18% growth in 2024.

Ed Sheeran will play his biggest tour across the country to date and artists including Shawn Mendes and Louis Tomlinson will perform at the Lollapalooza festival in March.

Marketing Professor Dr. Sourindra Banerjee of Leeds University Business School says India’s 1.4 billion population – and their age – are a big draw for artists.

“A large proportion of young people live in India,” says Dr. Banerjee told Newsbeat.

“So if I were in the music industry, that would be the area I would target to take advantage of the demographic.”

According to global market research firm Statista the value of the Indian music industry in 2021 it was 19 billion rupees (178 million pounds).

By 2026, it is estimated to have grown to 37 billion rupees (£346 million).

Dr. Banerjee says the rise of K-Pop in India has shown Western artists the country’s potential to attract new fans.

“Major music labels have research teams that would have seen that someone else (can) take over a big market,” he says.

In a broader sense, he feels he belongs to India growing prosperity and connections to the rest of the world making it an important place for artists to establish themselves and collaborate.

“Not only to gain access to the Indian market, but also to gain access to the large Indian population living outside the country.”

For local Indian artists, the hope is that big names could offer them big opportunities.

Pop/folk singer Anoushka has been making music since 2020 and believes Western artists offer domestic acts a chance to gain greater visibility.

She has experience herself, having opened for Brit Award winner Ben Howard.

“This is an opportunity I never thought I would have in this country,” she says.

Independent singer-songwriter Anumita Nadesan says the chance to collaborate with bigger artists “puts you on the map.”

“It is also very inspiring because before a mega artiste came to India, we had to travel to another country to watch his concerts.”

“And as an artist you learn a lot when you attend these concerts,” says the Hindi artist.

Bangalore-based pop artist Frizzell D’Souza says seeing artists from abroad who had humble beginnings can send a strong message to Indian audiences that homegrown talent can achieve global fame.

She describes Ed Sheeran as her “songwriter hero” and says his background as a busker and performing at grassroots events is relatable.

“It’s very reassuring to know that someone like him can actually do it,” Frizzell says.

“Even though he’s such a big superstar right now, he kind of started in the same place as me.”

Frizzell also sees an opportunity for cultural exchange by exposing Western musicians to Indian sounds.

She references rapper Hanumankind, who charted worldwide with Big Dawgs and teamed up with A$AP Rocky.

“And this is proof that the arrival of international acts to India is also helping Indian artists break through (globally),” she says.

However, the artists point out some possible downsides to the influx of global stars to India.

Frizzell sees the greatest risk in the financial area – and in the fact that the audience mainly spends its budget on larger artists.

“I hope I’m wrong about that, but maybe they would prefer the bigger international acts and don’t want to risk it with younger or up-and-coming acts.”

Anumita adds that it is also possible for artists to eclipse the attention of smaller artists.

“But it also presents a challenge for smaller artists to perhaps raise the bar.”

According to Peony Hirwani, music journalist at Rolling Stone India, the risk of being overshadowed is low as companies involved in events often ensure that local artists are the main supporting acts.

As an example, she cites G-Eazy’s 2024 tour, which featured all Indian support artists, which helped boost their careers.

Instead, she tells Newsbeat, the focus should be on improving infrastructure to attract the biggest names like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé – both of whom have failed to bring their tours to India.

have fans often complained Facilities Information: Concerts are often held at sports stadiums used during India’s long cricket season and are not always available all year round.

“So we need more, bigger venues and a better system for music,” says Peony.

The Lollapalooza Festival will take place at a horse racing track in Mumbai – the only venue with enough space to hold it safely.

“Even some of the (remarkable) stadiums we have right now… there definitely needs to be conversations about what everyone needs to improve our infrastructure and venues,” Peony says.

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