It's the sound of spending as immersive music events strike an Indian note

New tech-enabled spectacles are transforming passive music listening into deep, multi-sensory experiences

A new luxury is drumming up patrons in India: Immersive music events that blend sound, story and space. Indians are opening their wallets for tech-enabled performances that turn music into a “multisensory experience”.

 

Events like the Global Garba festival at Sunder Nursery in New Delhi and YOUFORIA, a curated audiovisual spectacle in Ahmedabad, are turning passive listening at music concerts to participatory engagement.

 

India’s organised live-events industry was worth $2.5 billion in 2024 and it is expected to reach $5.8 billion by 2030, according to market research agency TechSci Research. The sector is projected to outpace traditional such as television and print in growth rate and audience engagement.

 

Ticketed music events last year generated Rs 1,300 crore in incremental revenue, marking a decisive shift from brand-sponsored concerts to direct consumer monetisation. Urban affluence, digital ticketing, and spending by young Indians are making live events popular.

 

In the past two years, India’s live performance industry has seen a creative pivot. Traditional concerts are giving way to experiential storytelling formats. From Krishna-themed jazz to raga themes generated by artificial intelligence, a new generation of creators is using digital tools to reinterpret heritage.

 

Hrutul, a filmmaker and composer, has created YOUFORIA, said to be the world’s first HEXAIMMERSIVE concert, a musical event designed to create a completely enveloping sensory experience for the audience, primarily by using 360-degree audio and visual technology. “The shows transform mythology into a multisensory experience of sound, storytelling, and spirituality,” said Hrutul (the stage name of Hrutul Patel).

 

“When you make mythology experiential, you make it accessible to a generation raised on screens,” he said. “It’s about retelling timeless stories in a language they understand — sound, visuals, and emotion.”

 

At two sold-out nights in Ahmedabad in October, Hrutul’s shows turned the venue into a “living and breathing” canvas of light and sound. Six LED panels shifted and merged to merge music and dance into symbols that mirrored the body’s seven chakras. Over 90 minutes, dancers, vocalists, and visual effects evoked discourses from the ‘Ramayana’ and the ‘Mahabharata’, while reflecting on technology and human consciousness.

 

“From a seven-year-old to a seventy-year-old, everyone is stirred,” said Tirth Thakkar, the show’s lead singer. “When philosophy becomes tangible — when you can see a raga, feel a mantra in your chest, and move with the story — people of all ages find their own way in.”

 

For both shows, a 10,000 square feet set was used to merge VFX, SFX, choreography, and live mixing to stage shows that used 17 songs composed by Hrutul.

 

Immersive concerts can be small and discreet, too. The Piano Man (TPM) restro bars in South Delhi and Gurgaon combine jazz with food and drinks. Arjun Sagar Gupta, founder of TPM, said the jazz bars have become a cultural movement. TPM in Eldeco Saket outpost is a gothic-inspired, multi-level theatre where every design element is engineered for immersion. At Eldeco, TPM introduced a “multisensory dining experience” by pairing textures, aromas, and plating with the evening’s jazz genre. For a mellow jazz night, smoky cocktails and slow-roasted dishes dominate; for a high-energy funk session, tangier, zestier plates arrive.

 

“It’s about coherence,” Gupta said. “Taste, sound, light — all must work in harmony.” TPM’s curation includes Carnatic Jazz Rock, Estonian Folk Pop, Hindustani Metal — collapsing genre hierarchies. “Today, genre is fluid,” says Gupta. “Artists draw from their roots but think globally. That’s what excites audiences — authenticity with surprise.”

 

“We have always believed that live music is more than entertainment — it’s a lifestyle choice,” said Gupta. “Creating experiences builds memory. Every night must feel like ritual.”

 

The ‘Silent Song’ moment is one TPM ritual that captures its philosophy perfectly. Every night, mid-set, service stops. No drinks poured, no chatter. For one song, the entire room falls silent — a collective act of listening. “We wanted to re-introduce respect for sound,” said Gupta.

 

Some of India’s iconic live acts in the past two years —Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ show, Bryan Adams’ ‘So Happy It Hurts’, Diljit Dosanjh’s ‘Dil-Luminati’ — illustrate the growth of India’s concert economy. Coldplay’s shows in Ahmedabad and Mumbai drew more than 220,000 spectators and they are estimated to have had an economic impact of Rs 641 crore, with ticket prices touching Rs 1 lakh for premium hospitality.

 

Adams’ seven-city run attracted more than 150,000 attendees, placing India on the global touring map. Dosanjh’s self-produced tour proved the commercial power of regional music, packing 40,000 fans in Delhi and extending across the United Kingdom and Canada.

 

Such events show that Indian audiences are active patrons of high-quality live entertainment, with digital platforms like BookMyShow and Paytm Insider democratising access.

 

The Global Garba Festival in Delhi had curated lighting, storytelling interludes, and costumes created by designers. Premium tickets, priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000, sold out days in advance for the September 26–28 event. “People want authenticity, but with ambience,” said Shivani Datta, director of Fusion Sphere Media, which organised the festival. “Garba is no longer just dance — it’s cultural diplomacy. We hosted 30 ambassadors this year. It’s a bridge between Gujarat’s soul and Delhi’s stage.”

 

The festival featured garba by Geeta Jhala and Band, live dhol performances, and special evenings with Ustad Anwar Khan Manganiyar and Salim–Sulaiman — complete with craft bazaars, regional cuisines, and cultural exchanges.

 

“We’re not just selling a sound or a show — we’re building a sense of tribe,” said Neha Mehta, head of brand strategy and solutions at Fashion Entrepreneur Fund, which organises events that blend fashion, music, and design. “Fashion and music have always shaped identity, and today’s audiences crave communities where creativity, culture, and self-expression come together. The new luxury is belonging — creating an ecosystem of aesthetics where patrons dress up, post reels, and make it part of who they are. Music has become the new couture.”