Makhija said the sponsorship market is a bit slow in its opening up towards live entertainment as sponsors and brands continue to remain wary about the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the pandemic. There are challenges apart from prevailing uncertainty. The uncertainty around the impact of the variant along with the lack of knowledge about it is seeing governments - both centre and state - take decisions basis positivity," said Voleti. The fear of the latest variant of Omicron is definitely a concern and something that both organizers and artistes are looking at closely, as no one wants to be responsible for spreading the virus. “Weddings are back, which is a big business for a lot of musicians in India. We feel that our doing from today will become a benchmark for safety in future," saidSiddhartha Chaturvedi, General Secretary, EEMA (Event and Entertainment Management Association).Īrtistes have had some of the roughest patches - personally and professionally - over the past two years, especially those that survive off live gigs, said Anirudh Voleti, senior talent manager at agency Big Bad Wolf that manages talent like Kuhad. “As the vaccination drive in metros is reaching 100%, it’s safe to do events. We are constantly following all covid protocols. BookMyShow recently launched a live entertainment IP called ‘Over The Top’ that made its debut with Canadian Punjabi singer AP Dhillon’s Takeover Tour starting mid-November across Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Goa and will see the international singer perform across Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai in the days to come. Smaller, home-grown and relatively less popular artistes have hit the charts making it a boom period for these performers, said Makhija. Traffic across Paytm Insider platforms returned to pre-covid levels in November, he added and Halloween 2021 even saw 107% increase in traffic compared to 2019. We expect that the upcoming season will continue that trend with people seeking interesting experiences for New Years’ eve," he said.Ĭurrently, live music is one of the most eagerly awaited and enjoyed categories and with multiple artists like Prateek Kuhad, Lucky Ali, Raghu Dixit, Prabhdeep, When Chai Met Toast and Osho Jain announcing multi-city tours, ticket sales for music gigs continue to grow across tier-one and tier-two cities alike, said Khare.
“Since September, we’ve been witnessing a spike in interest from audiences around live events as lockdown rules eased and club and indoor venues opened up.
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Varun Khare, business head, live entertainment (IPs and partnerships), Paytm Insider said artistes and creators are looking forward to performing live for their fans, after a 15 month plus hiatus.
Pent-up demand for live events led to an average occupancy of 70% for an event with the 50% capacity guidelines, as permitted by the government, in the recent past.
He admitted to a definitive rise in demand though the events are smaller in places such as bars, restaurants and clubs where covid safety protocols can be implemented seamlessly, he added.
“The rules and regulations for live events presently are being determined by different states leading to varied formats of entertainment being adopted across cities," said Anil Makhija, chief operating officer, live entertainment and venues at ticketing site BookMyShow.