Waka-Waka to Economic Survey

When the Assam state explored the possibility of hosting the renowned global pop star, Shakira, after a tourism bump from her recent Post Malone concert, it reflected a broader shift in how states were beginning to view live concerts, and music. What was once seen as a mere cultural or entertainment activity is increasingly being treated as a tourism and economic strategy. Globally, cities and nations compete for these events, not just for prestige, but for the measurable impact they bring to segments such as hotels, airlines, restaurants, and local businesses.

On January 6, 2026, the Centre created a Live Events Development Cell with the explicit goal of turning India into a global live-events hub by 2030. The initiative aims to streamline permissions, reduce regulatory friction, and create a single-window system for large concerts and entertainment events. The move signals that live events are not limited ones, but provide a macroeconomic fillip. Like major sports events, music concerts can rev up national and local economies on a sustainable basis, and become an integral part of the country’s growing services sector, and energised tourism segment.

The policy thinking received formal validation in this year’s Economic Survey, which introduced the idea of “concert economy.” For the first time, a macroeconomic document placed live music alongside tourism, jobs, and urban spending as a driver of economic activity. The Survey situates concerts within the broader “Orange Economy,” a category used for sectors where value is driven by creativity, culture, and intellectual property. In this framework, it includes ticket sales, and the chain of spending around events: flights, hotel bookings, local transport, logistics, media production, advertising, retail, and food services.

A central premise is that music concerts generate activity far beyond the venue, and can function as short-duration tourism multipliers, which can be repeatedly replicated. This argument sits within the larger importance of tourism to the economy. According to the Survey, tourism contributed 5.22 per cent of GDP in FY24, supported around 85 million direct and indirect jobs, and generated $35 billion in foreign exchange earnings. Domestic travel remains the main growth engine, but inbound tourism remains uneven. In that context, concerts can act as demand spikes that can pull in high-spending overseas visitors, and strengthen and increase the city-level and municipal revenues.

To justify this framing, the Survey points to global benchmarks. In the US, live music generated more than $130 billion in economic output in 2019, and supported over 900,000 jobs. In the UK, music tourism contributed Pounds 6.6 billion in 2022, or about 0.3 per cent of the GDP. Across countries, creative industries account for anywhere between 0.5 per cent and more than 7 per cent of GDP, according to the UN estimates. These figures explain why governments are competing for global tours. For example, Singapore’s handling of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became a case study in concert-led tourism.

Singapore’s government provided coordinated support to secure the exclusive Southeast Asian dates. The Swift shows triggered a surge in hotel occupancy, and regional travel, with hundreds of millions of dollars estimated to have flowed into the national economy. The strategy was so effective that other Asian nations publicly complained about losing out on the economic spillover. Canada followed a similar path, coordinating across provinces to host multiple shows and capture the spending on flights, accommodation, and retail. Political leaders speak openly about concerts as economic tools.

In Mexico, for instance, President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed press briefings on the tourism and spending benefits of major global tours, including those by the South Korea BTS Group, and spoke about the economic upside of hosting more such events. Industry executives echo the same views. Senior managers at HYBE, the company that manages BTS, described the K(orean)-pop concerts as economic engines, noting that a single BTS show generates activity comparable to major global sporting events because of the business activity.

India’s live entertainment market has begun to reflect these trends, which are influenced by the growing demand among the local fans. The Survey notes that the live entertainment segment crossed Rs 100 billion in value in 2024, after a strong post-pandemic rebound. Concerts are labour intensive and, therefore, create jobs, even if temporary, across hospitality, logistics, media, security, and event operations. Many of these roles are youth oriented, which aligns with India’s demographic profile. In addition, some of the jobs turn semi-permanent if the venues become regular hosts to music concerts, and other events.

But the Survey is clear about the challenges and constraints. The largest limitation is not demand, but execution of a mega event. At present, the country lacks large, purpose-built venues that meet the global production and safety standards. Regulatory friction remains high. Organisers need 10-15 separate local clearances from the different agencies for a single event. The Survey notes that the government is working toward a single-window system, but the implementation is still evolving. Restrictions around foreign payments to the global artists, as also the expenses on technology, remain a structural hurdle.

Recent concert experiences illustrate these challenges. The Mumbai shows by the well-known Coldplay saw a massive demand. The same was true in other centres. However, there was public backlash because hotel prices suddenly surged around the event dates. While the concerts were commercially successful, the spikes in accommodation raised concerns about visitor experiences, and destination planning. In a bid to avoid expenses, visitors spent the night at the airports or public places after the events, which created additional problems. There were issues related to coordination, and management of traffic and people.

In Delhi, Diljit Dosanjh’s concert highlighted a similar set of issues. Reports of traffic congestion, overcrowding, and poor waste management circulated widely, with images of littered grounds drawing criticism. These are precisely the types of failures that the Survey warns about. Without proper crowd management, sanitation, last-mile transport, and coordination between the agencies, concerts can become logistical headaches rather than economic assets. There are examples of better execution. Lollapalooza India in Mumbai emerged as a multi-day, structured, festival with coordinated entry systems, public-private partnerships, and extensive city-level planning.

Globally, the scale of the concert economy is impossible to ignore. Tours by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and BTS generated billions of dollars for the host cities. India’s absence from many of the global touring calendars reflects infrastructure and coordination gaps. The Survey’s treatment of concerts frames them as part of a broader experience-led consumption cycle that feeds into other areas. The logic is that they boost foreign exchange earnings, create service-sector jobs, and strengthen city branding. Only if the systems are ready.