Beyond the Stage: Economic Impact and Tourism Multipliers of Music Festivals in Emerging Indian Destinations

Hargun Kaur

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.89845

Beyond the Stage: Economic Impact and Tourism Multipliers of Music Festivals in Emerging Indian Destinations 

Author(s)	Ms. Hargun Kaur
Country	India
Abstract	In recent years, the consumption patterns of live music in India have broken out of conventional metropolitan hubs and found an eager, mobile audience across smaller towns, rural valleys, and scenic regional getaways. While traditional music business scholarship primarily focuses on recorded music, streaming royalties, catalog publishing, and copyright litigation, this study shifts critical attention to the broader macroeconomic spillovers generated by live concerts and multi-day music festivals in non-metropolitan environments. Using the economic multiplier framework, which categorizes financial activity across Direct, Indirect, and Induced expenditure channels, this paper explores how destination music gatherings stimulate local host economies far beyond the immediate concert perimeter. The study maps the granular movement of attendee capital outside the venue gates, examining expenditure across family-run homestays, private guesthouses, regional taxi associations, independent eateries, and indigenous craft markets. Alongside documenting these financial gains, the paper critically examines systemic growing pains that threaten regional sustainability. Key among these are economic leakage, where corporate profits and technical production fees flow back to metropolitan agencies rather than remaining in host communities; and severe municipal pressure on rural roads, power lines, and waste management infrastructure. Furthermore, the absence of a unified administrative process creates unnecessary operational delays for event organizers navigating multiple municipal bodies. To resolve these bottlenecks, the paper offers practical policy interventions for state tourism boards and local district authorities. It advocates for the creation of digital single-window clearance portals, mandatory local procurement and hiring quotas, structured hospitality training for community homestay hosts, and enforceable green-auditing standards backed by refundable eco-deposits. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates that with thoughtful municipal planning, live music tourism can serve as a dependable, community-centered vehicle for decentralized regional development and cultural exchange across India.
Keywords	Music Tourism, Event Economy, Destination Festivals, Economic Multipliers, Hospitality.
Field	Arts > Movies / Music / TV
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-15
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.89845

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Beyond the Stage: Economic Impact and Tourism Multipliers of Music Festivals in Emerging Indian Destinations

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