Why global stars are now hitting India

“Please come to my city!”

A familiar cry from music fans around the world hoping for their favorite artists to come to their hometown.

Fans in India, however, often find the appeal falling on deaf ears.

Artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and the Arctic Monkeys appear Spotify’s weekly album chartwhile Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Split) spent 217 consecutive weeks.

Many world famous musicians like to skip the country.

But now that seems to be changing.

Dua Lipa’s recent performance in Mumbai went viral and Coldplay will be embarking on their tour – nine years after they last visited India.

Their dates include two shows in Ahmedabad where over 100,000 people are expected to attend each night.

“To have this in our country, it’s great to see it happening more and more,” music fan and aspiring artist Anoushka Maskey told BBC Newsbeat.

Demand for live music appears to be growing in India, with ticketing platform BookMyShow predicting an 18% growth in 2024.

Ed Sheeran is set to play his biggest country tour yet, and artists including Shawn Mendes and Louis Tomlinson will appear at the Lollapalooza festival in March.

Marketing professor Dr Sourindra Banerjee, from Leeds University Business School, says India’s 1.4 billion people – and their age – are a huge draw for artists.

“You have a large part of the world, of young people, living in India,” Dr Banerjee tells Newsbeat.

“So if I was in the music business that’s where I would want to be, to benefit from the demographics.”

According to global market research firm Statista, cost of Indian music industry in 2021 it was 19 billion rupees (£178 million).

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

Dr Banerjee says the rise of K-pop in India has shown western artists the country’s ability to gain new fans.

“The major music labels have research teams that would have seen someone else [can] to take the big market,” he said.

In general, they hear about India economic growth and links with the rest of the world it makes it an important place for artists to interact and “collaborate”.

“Not only to find the Indian market, but also to reach out to greater India [population] who live abroad.”

For Indian artists, there is hope that big names will bring big opportunities for them.

Pop/Folk singer Anoushka has been making music since 2020 and feels that Western artists are giving the local scene a chance to shine.

He has experience after opening for Brit Award winner Ben Howard.

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

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

“It is also very inspiring, because earlier when a big artist came to India, we had to go to another country to watch their concerts.

“And you learn a lot as an artist by going to these concerts,” says the Hindi artist.

Pop artist Frizzell D’Souza, from Bangalore, says seeing acts from abroad that started from humble beginnings can send a strong message to Indians that homegrown talent can make it to the world.

He describes Ed Sheeran as a “songwriting hero” and says his reputation for playing and playing in larger venues is well-known.

Frizzell said: “It’s very encouraging to know that someone like him can actually do that.

“Even though he’s so big right now, he started where I started.”

Frizzell also sees opportunities for cross-cultural exchange, with Western musical scores being presented with Indian voices.

He points to rapper Hanumankind, who charted internationally with Big Dawgs and collaborated with A$AP Rocky.

“And this is proof that having international events coming to India also helps Indian artists [globally] break,” he says.

But, the artists point out some potential problems with the influx of international stars coming to India.

The biggest risk Frizzell sees is money – and audiences make budgets especially for major artists.

“I hope I’m wrong, but maybe [they] they would love the big world events and not want to risk it on young or upcoming events.”

Anumita adds that there is also an opportunity for artists who cover the interest of small artists.

“But then it also challenges smaller artists to maybe promote better.”

According to Peony Hirwani, music reporter at Rolling Stone India, the risk of being covered is low because the companies involved in the events usually ensure that local artists are the main contributors.

He cites G-Eazy’s 2024 as an example, which featured only Indian artists – who helped them promote their careers.

Instead, he tells Newsbeat, the aim should be to improve the infrastructure to attract big names like Taylor Swift and Beyonce – both of whom have not brought their tours to India.

The fans did he often complains In terms of venues, concerts are usually held in stadiums that are used during the Indian cricket season and are not available regularly throughout the year.

“So we need more space, bigger space, and a better music channel,” says Peony.

The Lollapalooza festival takes place at Mumbai’s racecourse – the only place with enough space to perform.

“Though some [notable] There needs to be a conversation that everyone needs to make our base a better place,” says Peony.

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