Music
A spate of last-minute show cancellations in Mumbai has fast-tracked a long-simmering conversation about whether India’s live music ecosystem is growing faster than the systems that support it
Following the recent cancellations of Circoloco’s India debut, a headline performance by French Montana, and a sold-out show by Paresh Pahuja, the Maharashtra government is now launching a single-window clearance system for live events, alongside a standardized set of operating procedures (SOPs). In practice, this would allow organizers to apply for multiple permissions through one centralized platform, rather than coordinating separately with different departments.
The move comes in the wake of heightened scrutiny after a recent tragedy at NESCO Mumbai, where two students reportedly died following a suspected overdose, an incident that prompted authorities to reassess safety protocols across large gatherings.
At one level, the response is decisive. A 25-member panel, spanning police, municipal bodies, fire services, excise, transport, and public health, has been tasked with building a coordinated framework. The aim is to streamline approvals, standardize requirements, and reduce the need for organizers to navigate multiple agencies independently.
But a broader question remains: is simplifying the approval process enough for an industry that is scaling at breakneck speed?
“The biggest challenge is unpredictability,” Siddhesh Kudtarkar, the founder of event management company Team Innovation, tells Rolling Stone India. Given that organizers are simultaneously locking in artists, venues, vendors, marketing campaigns, and production infrastructure months in advance, clear timelines are crucial. “Approvals can come very late in the process, and sometimes requirements change without much notice,” he adds. “Clear timelines would make a huge difference. Even if the rules are strict, as long as they’re consistent and transparent, we can plan around them.”
That need for predictability, industry stakeholders argue, ultimately ties back to how live entertainment is recognized within the broader economy. “Events generate impact across tourism, hospitality, transport, employment, and city branding, so policy support should reflect that,” says Deepak Choudhary, Founder and MD of EVA Live.
Globally, similar shifts toward consolidated frameworks have helped scale live music ecosystems. In the United Kingdom, unified licensing under the Licensing Act 2003 integrates entertainment, safety, and capacity requirements into a single system. In Australia, coordinated event models bring together law enforcement, health services, and organizers into shared planning processes.
India, notably, already has many of these components in place. When Rolling Stone India analyzed what festivals got right and wrong at the end of 2025, it was evident that many of these events had become economic engines, often operating within a largely unstructured ecosystem, and even building festival-grade infrastructure from the ground up due to the lack of purpose-built venues. Recent moves, from the central government’s launch of the Live Entertainment Development Cell to state-level partnerships with platforms like BookMyShow Live, indicate a growing push to build out the infrastructure and institutional support needed for India’s live music boom.
In this context, the emerging policy push is a step forward, but only if the gap between intent and on-ground execution is properly navigated. “On the regulatory side, I think we need clearer frameworks: standardized processes, defined timelines, and more digitization so things aren’t so dependent on manual follow-ups,” points out Kudtarkar. “It would also help if there were more ongoing dialogue between authorities and the industry, rather than engagement only when issues arise.”
At the same time, the events that triggered this moment highlight another dimension of live event regulation. Substance use at concerts and festivals is not unique to India, nor is it easily addressed through enforcement alone. Internationally, several countries have combined policing with harm-reduction strategies, including drug-checking services, which operate across parts of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and allow attendees to anonymously test substances and receive medical guidance.
Research suggests these interventions can influence behaviour. A survey published in the Harm Reduction Journal in 2018 found that a considerable proportion of respondents reported that the results of drug checking would influence their drug use. Broader studies have also found that drug-checking services reduce harm for people who use drugs and their communities, including by helping prevent overdoses in festival settings.
These approaches remain context-specific and legally complex, but they underline a broader point: addressing safety at scale often requires a combination of enforcement and awareness.
What this moment reveals is that the challenge is as structural as it is regulatory. Live events today operate at the intersection of entertainment, urban infrastructure, and public health, where risks may emerge across systems that don’t always speak to each other. Beyond streamlining approvals, that means investing in venue infrastructure, strengthening on-ground coordination between agencies, and building clearer systems for safety and accountability.
As gigs and festivals scale in size and frequency, the question shifts from how they are permitted to how they are supported. “While we acknowledge and welcome the creation of the Live Entertainment Development Cell by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the pace of implementation of its recommendations now needs to be robust enough to create visible change at the ground level,” Choudhary notes. “The intent is clearly encouraging, and we are truly optimistic that if execution gathers momentum, it can help address many of the longstanding operational challenges the industry faces.”