Why are big music acts giving Bengaluru a miss?

There was a time, not long ago, when pretty much every rock and pop act worth his salt would have Bengaluru on the tour map. Artistes like Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Metallica, Slayer, Santana and many more have been here, but all that changed in 2012, when the city's most preferred destination for music concerts — Palace Grounds — was closed for commercial activities. While the live music scene in the city has not completely died down, the lack of a centrally-located venue has definitely hurt it. But is that all there is to it? With artistes like Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and The Chainsmokers heading to Mumbai and Delhi, and shunning Bengaluru, BT explores if there's more to it than meets the eye.

Lack of a big, centrally-located venue
Harisha Prabhu of the DNA Entertainment Networks, which has been instrumental in bringing several international acts to Bengaluru in the past, says that a combination of factors has dulled the music scene in the city. "The closure of the Bangalore Palace Grounds for ticketed events was definitely one of the biggest reasons. We do not have a centrally-located venue that can accommodate huge crowds. The venues available now are all far flung and accessibility is an issue," he says.
Rohit Barker, professional entertainer, however, says that the city desperately needs bigger venues. "One of the main reasons we are missing out on large international acts is because there is no infrastructure for large concerts. The need of the hour is that the state government should look for spaces for performing acts and identify such spaces within city limits or even outside that can hold close to 15,000-20,000 people," he says.

Bengalureans won't splurge on tickets
On condition of anonymity, an event organizer says, "The city by itself does not have the financial ability to buy tickets that are 'expensive'. In Mumbai and Delhi, concert-goers are mentally prepared for the ticket budget and plan their finances acccordingly. The Global Citizen Festival or the Justin Bieber concerts had exhorbitantly-priced tickets, but people took it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was the 'experience' that drove them to buy it. In Bengaluru, people are reluctant to buy tickets priced over `1,500-`3,000 per person; it's a kind of a financial mental block."
Promoters in the city are also skeptical about investing on international acts for the fear that it won't pull through well. "To curb this fear, they have a weird investment model — they pay the booking amount at the time of signing the agreement with the artiste management/agency to confirm the date, so that they can approach sponsors. They then depend on sponsors and ticket sales to pay the rest. In most cases, the promoters fail to rake up the rest of the funds and the artiste calls off his interest to perform in the city," he adds.
City-based musician Arwen Magma agrees, and adds, "Bengalureans will pay to watch a band perform live rather than a solo artiste whereas in Mumbai people can afford to pay and watch solo acts by international pop artistes."

Choice of city rests with organizer

Artiste and event manager Arpan Peter says that it is not the artiste who chooses a tour city. "I don't believe that any pop artiste is giving the city a miss deliberately. A lot of it revolves around the event organizer. If the organizer is based in Mumbai, they will be more comfortable on their home turf and will call the artiste there," he says, adding that Justin Bieber was called to Mumbai probably because it is a bigger market for him. "Bengaluru has a bigger, mature and niche music taste. Pop has never really been big in the city. It has a huge market for metal, rock and electronic acts," he says. City-based musician Arwen Magma agrees and states that since most of the artiste management companies are based out of Delhi and Mumbai, they end up performing in those respective cities. Bigger artiste management companies leave little space for smaller organizers. "I was planning to call Ed Sheeran to Bengaluru around October-November, but his team said that he was already booked for the period," he states.

Licensing and permission issues
Procuring all the permissions required for a concert is easier said than done, says another event organizer. "Getting police clearance is difficult, as they often cite traffic and law and order issues. They can't really be blamed, considering the city's infrastructure, but you can't expect event organizers to tell concert goers to car pool, use public transport or not bring their vehicle at all. There has to be greater liaison between organizers and authorities," he says.
A talent manager, also on condition of anonymity, adds, "There is no single window system in Bengaluru where all the permits and licenses can be attained from. Mumbai and Delhi too don't, but it is more systematic there as there are agents to whom these are commissioned to. The irony is, in Maharashtra, there is an additional State Home Ministry approval — the Mantralay permit — which is the most important permit that decides the fate of the concert. This enables promoters to get other permits such as police, fire, entertainment tax, etc. Here, we do not have any tough procedure like this, but still fail to execute something worthy."
Oum Pradutt, of Phase 1 Events and Entertainment Private Limited, who was instrumental in bringing Above & Beyond to the city recently disagrees. "If permissions are applied for well in advance, there is no stopping events from happening here. You just need to go by the rule book. Right now, the problem is that bigger city-based organizers are not holding events here, and the newer inexperienced bunch is not following the right approach. If you fix everything and apply for permissions in the last minute, it is not going to happen and this, in turn, casts a shadow on the city's image. If another 2-3 events go wrong, maybe stakeholders will wake up and get their act together," says Oum.

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