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This year, I found myself attending more concerts than I’ve attended in my entire life combined, and it feels like a direct result og India’s live music scene finally exploding. Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, a wave of K-pop groups, global DJs, alt bands, hip-hop collectives... it feels like everyone is touring, and for the first time, we’re truly part of the global circuit.
But while the stages are getting bigger, the line-ups seem stuck in a loop curated by someone who thinks music is a boys’ hostel talent night. Most major Indian festivals still feature 80–90% male performers. Some have 50+ artists and barely squeeze in two women, as if female talent is a limited-edition collectible.
This would almost be funny if it weren’t so wildly out of touch with reality. Two of the top five global Spotify artists this year are women. In India, our most-streamed female artist reached the top ranks despite an industry stacked against her. The audience wants women, the charts prove it, and pop culture runs on women. They are the cultural engine, and the fact that festival line-ups don’t reflect that is less a coincidence and more a chronic case of male blind-spot syndrome.
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In 2024, when Halsey headlined Lollapalooza India, it felt like a breakthrough. Her parting message on stage has never left my mind: she said she hopes that in the coming years we’ll see more international and Indian women headlining festivals here.
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And yet, two years later, that prophecy remains largely unfulfilled. Aside from Tyla’s electrifying headliner set at the Indian Sneaker Festival this weekend — where she arrived with beats, choreography, and a stage presence that snapped the air in half — there hasn’t been much movement. Tyla’s performance was a reminder that when women headline, they know the job.
In motion // Mumbai, India 🖤 shot by Pixie Levinson pic.twitter.com/pBa1hbVDDU
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) November 17, 2019
Meanwhile, women arrive with stadium-ready production, rigorous rehearsals, visuals, live bands, styling, narrative arcs, choreography, and often… the burden of being perfect. As Taylor Swift said in Miss Americana: “Female artists have to reinvent themselves so many more times than male artists, or else you’re out of a job. Live out a narrative that we find interesting enough to entertain us, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.”
It’s not as though India hasn’t witnessed the power of global pop women. Katy Perry and Dua Lipa’s technicolour takeover at the OnePlus Music Festival remains unmatched. Last year, Dua Lipa once again owned the stage here with the same confidence she brings to Glastonbury. Demi Lovato’s VH1 Supersonic set proved that pop girls don’t just perform — they elevate the entire environment they step into.
Even at home, our women are owning stages with unprecedented power. Sunidhi Chauhan is in her imperial phase; every concert is a masterclass in artistry. And yet, she still isn’t headlining any major festival here. Sometimes, it genuinely feels like male musicians get booked out of habit rather than merit.
And then there’s the elephant in the mosh pit: audience behaviour. Labels and managers think twice about sending women to India because safety is a genuine concern. The incel-leaning corner of social media rears its head every time a woman performs here. Just last night, after Tyla’s spectacular set, few men in our comment section were debating her outfit more than her art. It’s almost comical how some men can analyse a hemline harder than they analyse lyrics.
To be absolutely clear: this is about asking why the bar for male performers remains at ankle height while women are expected to pole-vault over skyscrapers. It’s about questioning why festivals continue booking the same genre-locked roster of men year after year, all while declaring the inclusion of one woman as “progress.” It’s about stating, plainly, that women aren’t the exception; they are the league, and globally, they’re often the ones winning the game.
So yes, India is ready for more female headliners. And frankly, it’s time for festivals to catch up — and for a few men to step aside, not because women need space, but because they’ve earned it.
