Coldplay and Ed Sheeran: Why global stars are now hitting India
2025-01-16
Category: entertainment

"Please come to my city!"A familiar cry from music lovers all over the world hoping their favourite artists come to their hometown.Fans in India, though, have often seen that plea fall on deaf ears.Artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Arctic Monkeys appear on the country's weekly Spotify album chart, where Ed Sheeran's ÷ (Divide) has spent 217 consecutive weeks.Many world-famous musicians have tended to skip the country.But that now appears to be changing.Dua Lipa's recent performance in Mumbai went viral and Coldplay will soon kick off their tour - nine years after their last visit to India.Their dates include two shows in Ahmedabad where more than 100,000 people are expected to attend each night."To have that experience in our own country, it's really cool to see that it's happening more and more," music fan and aspiring artist Anoushka Maskey tells BBC Newsbeat.
The attraction of India
Demand for live music appears to be increasing in India, with ticketing platform BookMyShow reporting 18% growth in 2024.Ed Sheeran is due to play his biggest-ever tour of the country, and artists including Shawn Mendes and Louis Tomlinson will appear at Lollapalooza festival in March.Marketing professor Dr Sourindra Banerjee, from Leeds University Business School, says India's 1.4 billion population - and their age - is a big draw for artists. "You have a large portion of the world, of youth, living in India," Dr Banerjee tells Newsbeat."So if I were in the music business that would be the place I would target, to reap the benefits of the demographic."According to the global market research company Statista, the value of the Indian music industry in 2021 was 19 billion rupees (£178 million). 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 potential of the country for finding new fans."Major music labels have research teams who would have seen that someone else [can] take over a large market," he says.More broadly, he feels India's growing wealth and links with the wider world makes it an important place for artists to get a foothold and "collaborate"."Not only to access the Indian market, but also access the large Indian [population] which lives outside the country."
More chances for Indian artists
For local Indian artists, there is hope that big names could bring big opportunities for them.Pop/folk singer Anoushka has been making music since 2020 and feels Western artists offer a chance for homegrown acts to find greater visibility.She has experience herself after opening for Brit Award winner Ben Howard."That's an opportunity that I never thought I would have within the country," she says.Independent singer-songwriter Anumita Nadesan says the chance to collaborate with bigger-artists "puts you on the map"."It's very inspiring as well, because before when a mega artist came to India, we had to travel to another country to see their concerts."And you get to learn a lot as an artist by going to these concerts," the Hindi artist says.
Pop artist Frizzell D'Souza, from Bangalore says seeing acts from abroad who started from humble beginnings can send a strong message to Indian audiences that homegrown talent can achieve global fame.She describes Ed Sheeran as her "songwriting hero" and says his background of busking and playing in grassroots venues is relatable."It's very reassuring to know that someone like him can actually do it," says Frizzell."Even though he's such a big superstar right now, he did start kind of at the same place that I did."
Frizzell also sees an opportunity for cultural exchange, with western music figures being exposed to Indian sounds.She points to rapper Hanumankind, who has charted globally with Big Dawgs and teamed up with A$AP Rocky."And that is proof that having international acts come to India is also helping Indian artists [globally] break through," she says.But, the artists point out some possible drawbacks to the influx of global stars coming to India.The biggest risk Frizzell sees is around money - and audiences budgeting mainly for bigger artists."I hope I'm wrong about this, but maybe [they] would prefer the bigger international acts and not want to risk it on younger or upcoming acts."Anumita adds there is also a chance of artists overshadowing the attention smaller artists get."But then it also challenges smaller artists to maybe raise the bar."
How India can be better
According to Peony Hirwani, music journalist at Rolling Stone India, the risk of being overshadowed is low as companies involved with events often ensure local artists are the main support acts.She gives G-Eazy's 2024 tour as an example, which had only Indian support artists - helping to boost their careers.Instead, she tells Newsbeat, the focus should be on improving infrastructure to attract the biggest of names such as Taylor Swift and Beyonce - both of whom did not bring their tours to India.Fans have often complained about facilities, concerts often held in sports stadiums used during India's lengthy cricket season and not always available year-round."So we need more, bigger venues, and a better system in place for music," Peony says.Lollapalooza Festival takes place at a horse racing track in Mumbai – the only venue with enough space to safely host it."Even some of the [notable] stadiums we have right now… there definitely needs to be conversations about what everyone needs to make our infrastructure and venues better," says Peony.
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