Why global stars are now hitting India

“Please come to my city!”

The familiar cry of music lovers from all over the world who hope that their favorite artists will come to their hometown.

However, fans in India often saw that this plea was not heard.

Artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and the Arctic Monkeys appear on Spotify Country Weekly Album Chartwhere Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) spent 217 consecutive weeks.

Many world famous musicians tried to skip the country.

But now that seems 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 over 100,000 people are expected to attend each night.

“To have this kind of experience in our country, it’s really cool to see it happening more and more,” music lover and budding artist Anoushka Maski tells BBC Newsbeat.

Demand for live music in India seems to be on the rise, with ticketing platform BookMyShow reporting 18% growth in 2024.

Ed Sheeran is set to play his biggest-ever national tour, with acts including Shawn Mendes and Louis Tomlinson set to appear at Lollapalooza in March.

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

“A large part of the world, the youth, lives in India,” Dr Banerjee tells Newsbeat.

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

According to global market research company Statista, importance of the Indian music industry in 2021 was 19 billion rupees (£178 million).

It is estimated to grow to 37 billion rupees (£346 million) by 2026.

Dr Banerjee says the rise of K-pop in India showed Western artists the country’s potential for finding new fans.

“The major music labels have research teams that would see that somebody else (could) capture a big market,” he says.

In a larger sense, he has a sense of India increasing wealth and connection with the wider world making it an important place for artists to establish themselves and “collaborate”.

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

For local Indian artists, there is hope that big names can bring them big opportunities.

Pop/folk singer Anoushka has been making music since 2020 and believes that western artists are giving homegrown artists a chance to gain more exposure.

She has experience herself after performing for Brit Award winner Ben Howard.

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

Independent singer-songwriter Anumita Nadesan says being able to collaborate with big artists “puts you on the map”.

“It is also very inspiring because earlier when mega artists came to India, we had to travel to another country to see their concerts.

“And you will learn a lot as an artiste by attending these concerts,” says the artiste in Hindi.

Bengaluru-based pop artist Frizell D’Souza says watching foreign artists who started from humble beginnings can send a strong message to Indian audiences that homegrown talent can reach global fame.

She describes Ed Sheeran as her “songwriting hero” and says his experience working on buses and performing in massive venues is very close.

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

“Even though he’s such a big superstar now, he really started from the same place I did.”

Frizzell also sees an opportunity for cultural exchange, with Western musical figures exposed to Indian sounds.

She points to rapper Hanumankind, who hit the charts worldwide with Big Dawgs and teamed up with A$AP Rocky.

“And this is proof that international artists coming to India is also helping Indian artistes (worldwide) break through,” she says.

But artistes point to some potential drawbacks of the influx of global stars coming to India.

The biggest risk Frizzell sees is money — and an audience that budgets mostly for bigger artists.

“I hope I’m wrong about that, but maybe (they) prefer bigger international bands and don’t want to take a chance on young or up-and-coming bands.”

Anumita adds that there is a chance that artists will overshadow smaller artists.

“But it also challenges smaller artists to maybe raise the bar.”

According to Pioni Hirwani, music journalist for Rolling Stone India, there is little risk of being overshadowed as the companies participating in the events often ensure that local artists are the headliners.

As an example, she cites G-Eazy’s 2024 tour, which featured only Indian acts, which boosted 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 not brought their tours to India.

There are fans often complained about facilities, concerts are often held in sports stadiums that are used during India’s long cricket season and are not always available year-round.

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

Lollapalooza is held at the Mumbai Racecourse, the only venue with enough space to hold it safely.

“Even in some of the (significant) stadiums that we have right now … there’s definitely a conversation to be had about what everybody needs to improve our infrastructure and our venues,” Pivoni says.

Listen to Newsbeat to live at 12:45 and 17:45 on weekdays – or listen here.