The frenzy for tickets to Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour in Mumbai took the internet by storm recently. Fans eagerly waited in online queues for hours, only to see the tickets disappear within moments.
The high demand for tickets has left many disappointed and sparked a broader convo about the growing class divide in India. Amidst the online chatter, well-known personalities like author Chetan Bhagat and BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover joined the debate.
Bhagat, best known for his popular novels 2 States and Five Point Someone, took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to share his concerns. In his post, he questioned the willingness of people to spend hefty amounts on entertainment.
He wrote, “On one hand we get figures of Indian salary percentiles and on the other there’s near mania for concert tickets. Who’s paying so much and buying all these tickets? What percentage of your monthly salary are people spending on these tickets? Some YOLO logic here? What?”
In reply, Ashneer Grover acknowledged the income disparity in the country but pointed out that India’s population includes a substantial number of people with the means to spend big. Grover highlighted that it shouldn’t be surprising for an 80,000-seat stadium to sell out, noting that over 800,000 students go abroad annually, spending an average of $50,000 each on education.
“Also now that most people who can afford have phones – things will fill up instantly as well,” Grover added in a statement.
However, not everyone agreed with Grover’s comparison between concert tickets and education. Some argued that while education is an investment, attending a concert is a lifestyle choice.
One user noted that many tickets for the Coldplay concert were priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 6,000, which, in their view, isn’t outrageously high for urban Mumbai residents. They pointed out, “For a Urban (Mumbai) crowd, this is not exorbitantly high price. People end up paying 2k for a dinner/ 1k for a 20km Uber. People have lesser creative avenues/experience to splurge.”
This debate around affordability and entertainment spending has opened up an important conversation about economic inequality in India, with voices from both sides weighing in on what people prioritize in their lives. Whether it’s the allure of a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience or an example of the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the Coldplay ticket scramble has sparked a much-needed discussion on how different segments of society view luxury and necessity.