Getty ImagesIf you were in India and had 900,000 rupees ($10,800; £8,000), what would you buy? A car? Traveling around the world? Diamond jewelry? Or Coldplay concert tickets?
Tickets for the British rock band’s three-show “Music of the Spheres” world tour to be played in Mumbai next year were sold out within minutes on BookMyShow (BMS) and then sold on resale platforms for an eye-popping price For sale at outrageous prices – the official concert ticketing platform.
Tickets went on sale last Sunday with prices ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,000. More than 10 million people competed to buy approximately 180,000 tickets.
Fans complained of hours-long digital queues and website crashes, but many also claimed sales were rigged as resellers began selling tickets for five times the price, even up to 9 lakh rupees, before they were released on the official website.
A similar thing happened with Tickets earlier this month Oasis UK concertdealers charged more than £350 for tickets priced at £135. But even so, the sky-high price of Coldplay tickets is still eye-catching. To put this into perspective, Madonna charged £1,306.75 for a VIP pass to her Celebration Tour, while the best tickets for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Concert cost £2,400.
The incidents have sparked a discussion in India about the phenomenon of ticket scalping, where people use bots or automated tools to bypass queues and buy multiple tickets and sell them on resale platforms. Fans have questioned whether the official website took enough steps to prevent this from happening, or chose to turn a blind eye.
BMS denies any links with resellers and urges fans to avoid tickets from “unauthorized sources” as they may be fake, but that hasn’t stopped people browsing the site with suspicion.
Fans complained about similar experiences when buying tickets Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh Upcoming concerts. Tickets were put on sale on concert organizer Zomato Live earlier this month, and after they sold out, they started appearing on resale platforms at multiple times their original price.
Ticket reselling is illegal in India, and experts say that while it is possible, due to the huge demand, legitimate ticket holders may also sell tickets through resellers to make a profit.
Dwayne DiazGraphic designer Dwayne Dias is one of the lucky few who managed to purchase Coldplay concert tickets from the official website. He bought four tickets for Rs 6,450 each.
Since then, he has been contacted by people willing to pay up to Rs 60,000 for tickets. “If I wanted, I could sell all the tickets and go to a concert in Korea [Coldplay’s upcoming touring destination]. The money will cover my travel expenses and I will be able to experience a new city,” he said.
While Coldplay tickets are shockingly expensive, it’s not uncommon to see huge demand for tickets to see international pop artists perform. In fact, the live music business in India has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years.
according to a ReportLast year, the concerts generated revenue of around Rs 800 crore, a figure expected to grow by 25% by 2025. Brian Tellis, a music industry veteran and co-founder of the Mahindra Blues Festival, said concerts have become part of the cultural currency of individuals and even nations.
Chart-topping acts including Ed Sheeran, Alan Walker and Dua Lipa have recently performed in India, with the latter two set to perform again this year. “Like other industries, India is a booming music market. India has a large young population with money to spend. Everyone wants a piece of the pie,” he said.
The surge in demand is evident in ticket prices and sales. About a decade ago, Tellis said, 80 percent of production costs were covered by sponsors and 20 percent through ticket sales, but now that number has been reversed.
“Going to concerts is both bragging rights and part of being conformist and fitting into the scene,” he said. “There are real music lovers among them too, but many people attend because they are attracted by the hype surrounding the show and they don’t want to feel left out.”
In the days before and after Coldplay concert tickets go on sale, social media is flooded with Instagram videos of the band performing their hit songs, such as adventure of a lifetime and Fix you In a packed stadium, fans sang together, turning the venue into one Gypsophila and their LED bracelets. Influencers gushed about their love for the band, and there was no shortage of Coldplay memes.
AFPIndustry sources told the BBC that targeted marketing plays a key role in ticket sales, a task that is handled by organizers’ websites. The more demand created, the more ticket prices can be raised. Organizing concerts is difficult because they often suffer losses, so when the opportunity arises, wealthy performers are exploited for profit.
While some fans believe the government should take steps to control ticket prices, Tellis disagrees. “this [selling tickets] It’s entrepreneurship – it’s not right for government to get involved. Because if you want to control revenue, you also have to control costs,” he said.
While India’s live music business is on the rise, experts say the country still has a long way to go to be on par with the international music scene.
“We have very few concert venues and they are not up to international standards,” Tellis said. “That’s why despite huge demand, artists are getting very few gigs in India.”
Dias and his friends recently traveled to Singapore to attend a Coldplay concert. He said the booking experience was smooth, the venue was top-notch and the crowds were well managed.
He’s not sure he would have had the same experience at the DY Patil Stadium, where the band held concerts in India. “For one thing, crowd sizes in India are much smaller and the crowds can be quite undisciplined,” he said. He also worries about the security of the venue and whether the entrances and exits can properly manage crowds.
But for now, he’s holding on to his ticket and is prepared to endure whatever lies ahead just for the chance to see Chris Martin and his band perform again.
