Filmed entertainment includes box office, satellite and digital rights, international theatricals and in-cinema advertising.
One of the key factors fuelling demand for live events is the emergence of ticket booking websites. These websites have made the economics of live events favourable for organisers in recent years.
“Availability of ticket-booking websites has brought about a big change. Today, a live event derives 60-70% of its total revenues from tickets and food & beverages (select locations). Sponsorship contributes, on average, 30-40% to total revenues of events,” said Lalitt Gattani, co-founder, Showcraft Productions, a company known for organising musical concerts and political events.
It is estimated that in 2024 there were 30,687 live events across 319 cities. This amounted to 18% growth when compared to 2023. In 2024, revenues from ticket sales grew by 40–50% year over year, while revenues from sponsorship grew by 30% in the same period.
Generally speaking, live event is an umbrella term used for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) events. These include sports, musical concerts, political and religious events, comedy shows, weddings, musical plays, and managed corporate events, among others. Sports and musical concerts attract larger audiences in B2C events, shared event organisers.“Today, audiences seek premium entertainment experiences which are at par with global standards. This reflects a shift in their expectations. They are ready to invest in unique, high-quality events, said Anil Makhija, COO of Live Entertainment and Venues at BookMyShow.Digital or social media penetration has also contributed significantly in creating demand for live events. Various social media platforms are providing much-needed information required for exploring and discovering artists and their works.
“Today, we live in a global digital world. Audiences are exposed to artists across geographies. Audiences aged between 12 to 25 are taste-makers as they explore and identify artists. These artists discovered by taste-makers are followed by audiences who are taste-followers,” explained Tarsame Mittal, a musical entrepreneur who has also managed more than sixty artists, including Arijit Singh, Badshah and Vishal-Shekhar.
On average, live events require an investment of Rs 5-30 crore. They can generate a return on investments of 30%. Interestingly, in recent years, a favourable demographic for live events has emerged. India has 40–50 million affluent homes. Then, there is an increasing base of live events’ audiences which has emerged thanks to the easy and convenient way of buying tickets digitally. These audi40–50 are keen on live and immersive experiences of niche and popular artists. Given this, tickets for live events are priced in the range of Rs 2000-Rs 100000, depending on how niche or widely appealing an artist is.
“Live events such as musical concerts offer premium, aspirational and assured-quality experiences, which enable higher monetary commitment. This is a great attraction about them,” said Ashish Pherwani, leader, media & entertainment sector, EY India.
Increasingly, screen fatigue (mobile, laptops, television) is another contributor to the growth in attendance for live events. Event organisers shared that audiences are looking for more ‘real’ experiences to deal with the mind-numbing virtual world experience.
“Screen fatigue is creating demand for live events as audiences want ‘real’ experiences. Live events are unique experiences, as they cannot be repeated,” pointed out Sabaash Joseph, co-founder and director at Wizcraft Group.
In recent years, demand for live events has also been boosted by the disappointing performance of films, the fear-of-missing-out-on-a-trend tendency among audiences and the government’s push for a concert economy.
A study by Bank of Baroda last year showed that in a year concerts in India could generate spending to the tune of Rs 6000-8000 crore. Apart from metros, the next level of growth in live events is likely to come from India’s top 40 cities, which have a population of over one million each.
Despite these favourable conditions, lack of proper infrastructure, venues and delays related to obtaining multiple licences for events remain a few key challenges for live events.
