Show Stoppers

In mid-May,amidst radio announcements and newspaper listings,the Edward Maya event stood out.

In mid-May,amidst radio announcements and newspaper listings,the Edward Maya event stood out. The Romanian DJ,performer and record producer of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) was all set to take over the console at Stone Water Grill on May 20. Though the event was supposed to be a good kickstart to the weekend,the turnout was average. Go back a month,and the city’s music lovers will remember the dampener that the Akon show at The Westin turned out to be. Even though event organisers are bringing in international artistes to perform on the city stage,the events don’t seem to meet expectations. It all boils down to the economics of the shows, observes Rohan Dalvi,director,iCrave and a music enthusiast himself.

When there’s an international artiste involved,there’s always high money riding on the show. The Bryan Adams show organised at Amanora Township in February was one of the biggest in the city. But did it live up to all the hype that preceded it the ticket promos or the battle of rock bands to open the performance? Prasad Kamat,head,Events,Amanora says,We almost broke even with the show. The tickets were priced high,at R 10,000,R 4000 and R 2000. While Kamat confirms that a crowd of 22,000 people gathered at the venue,Adams’ fans were surprised that there was room for more. The ticket prices,they say,probably kept some people away. Kamat agrees,Yes,if the tickets were priced at R 500 less,we would have had more people purchasing them. The problem with the music scene in the city is the low accessibility that surrounds it,feels music enthusiast Akanksha Shah. The pubs and lounges charge high cover charges and the tickets to concerts are expensive. There is little respite for the average music listener. The idea of music and playing live is to reach out to the listeners,not cut them out by pandering to elitism, she stresses.

Understanding the economics behind organising a big show is what’s essential. Legalities and permissions come second. It is these two key factors that can make or break a show. And it is the latter that the city has had to put up with in the last few months. Dalvi explains,A lot of young event organisers are plunging in and doing big shows. They are 20 or 21-year-olds and they aren’t well-versed with the key elements of an international show. For example,if an artist is worth ‘X’ amount,they end up paying three or four times more. Then,the price of tickets goes up and the crowd lessens. It’s a cycle that needs to be taken care of otherwise the scenario will just become worse.

For any big concert to break even,there have to be equal number of sponsors. Organisers cannot earn their money from tickets. It’s wrong to burden the audience. The mathematics will not match, Kamat says. For us,even if we’ve suffered a small loss,it goes into the marketing or advertising budget, he adds.

For others though,the motive is to recover the cost spent on bringing the artistes. So in that sense,the high ticket prices are justified, says Bhavik Shah of Shaman Events & Concerts whose first event was the recent Edward Maya show. Another event organiser,Santosh Gupta (NS Events),adds,People here need to understand what an international event is. While they want to come for the show,they don’t want to pay and instead want their names on the guest list. Now,if I put everyone’s name on the list,I’ll end up going in a loss.

Another important aspect is the permissions required for an international show. Without the right clearance,an international show cannot go on,as was proved by the Akon debacle. The organisers didn’t get the right permission from the Mantralaya because of which the R&B star couldn’t perform,leaving hundreds of fans disappointed,especially because they had shelled out a few thousand rupees to watch him live. In an official statement,the singer profusely apologised for the fiasco. It was very unfortunate that the organisers were unable to obtain the required certificates and I wasnt informed of the same till the very last moment when I was about to go on stage. I will return to Pune,but with a different set of organisers, he said.

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