Explained: South Asians, South Koreans, South Americans: Why Coachella music festival is more global than ever

Puerto Rico, South Korea, Belgium, India, and Pakistan - top artists from all of these countries flew all the way toCalifornia last weekend to be a part of the world's biggest music festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, whose six-day annual run reportedly drawsover750,000 people.The 2023 edition of the festival showcased global talent like never before! And, the lineup was more diverse and international than ever.

As promised, the 2023 Coachella music festival, which takes place over two consecutive weekends every April in Indio, California, introduced a variety of thoughtful initiatives and programmes. The focus of the music festival this year was to create a more inclusive space that celebrates different identities and communities. As a global leader in the live music industry, Coachella wanted to create a meaningful and impactful change within the global music community and lead by example. And, many would say that they have managed to do so! But, how?

In a bidto improve the overall festival experience and attract people of different communities, organisers ofone of the biggest musical stages on a global scale invited artists from South Asia, South America and South Korea, among others. The lineup of all the stages was designed in a way that celebrated music from different regions of the world. There was something for everyone andpeople were more than pleased!

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Spain's Rosalia,France's Christine and the Queens, Argentina's Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Belgium's Angele,Nigeria's Burna Boy,Iceland's Bjork,Pakistan's Ali Sethi, South Korea's Blackpink,and India's Diljit Dosanjh drew large crowds to the festival and impressed many withtheir high-energy sets.Palestinian-Chilean Elyanna created history as he became the first artist to perform a full set in Arabic at the festival.

Puerto Rican reggaeton master Bad Bunnyheadlined the weekend's opening night and delivered a power-packed performance that paid homage to Caribbean music's influential lineage. In short, the first weekend of 2023 Coachella was historic in many ways!

But, as many would wonder, what exactly triggered the change after 24 years? Why did the organisers feel the need to diversify their lineup? Other than going global and attracting different communities, what could've encouraged the event producers to explore different artists?The simple answer would be - it makes business sense.

Music festivals have grown into major moneymakers in a competitive industry that sees hundreds of such events happening each year in the US. Coachella, alone, makes over $100 million in profits annually.Its profits from 2018 to 2023 are unknown, but the music festival made over $114 million in profits in 2017, according to Grammy. A year prior to that, the music festival fetched over $160 million in profits, making it one of the highest-grossing of all time. But, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a two-year halt and caused major losses to the organisers.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the festival organisers want to sell the maximum number of tickets and attract huge crowds. And what better way than inviting artists who attract different diasporas in the United States?

In times when streaming and social media platforms provide metrics on what's popularand profitable, Coachella advocating a diverse lineup doesn't shock many. But, it is still a topic of discussion among music lovers across the globe!

When organisers decide to invite Diljit Dosanjh to the music festival as the first Punjabi singer to grace the Coachella stage, the entire Punjabi diaspora shows up. And, did you know thatIndian Americans make up approximately 1.35 per centof the US population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans in the country?

Similarly, fans of other artists buy tickets and plan their first trips to Coachella to be a part of the musical experience. When these artists share posts about the festival with their millions of fans online, Coachella gets publicity. It becomes a topic of discussion among friends and colleagues. That's not all, the number of views they get online on their live broadcast also quadruples. The more the buzz, the better!

Putting together a music festival is a major challenge. Organisers have to curate a bombshell lineup,pay artists to secure their dates, sell a certain number of tickets in order to be successful and bear the additional costs of insurance. Then there's the riskof bad weather, security lapses and whatnot! So, the sales and marketing teams are giventhe most important responsibility. They're tasked to find ways to make the event more profitable for the investors and more memorable for the attendees. And, this year, Coachella certainly managed to do so with its inclusivity drive.

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