Key Takeaways
- Public liability for a 5,000-capacity outdoor concert should be minimum ₹10 crores — crowd-related incidents have produced claims in this range at Indian events
- Event cancellation insurance for a concert must specifically cover artist no-show as a named peril — many standard event cancellation policies exclude this
- Production equipment insurance (for the PA, lighting, and staging infrastructure) is typically the production company's or AV supplier's responsibility — confirm in writing
- Liquor liability (where alcohol is served at the event) requires a separate endorsement on the public liability policy in most Indian states
- Force majeure clauses have been re-examined post-pandemic — check whether your policy's force majeure exclusions would have applied in 2020
Public liability for music events
Music events present specific public liability exposures that corporate conferences do not: crowd crushing at entry points, moshing injuries, stage diving incidents (at appropriate genres), equipment failure causing audience injury, and alcohol-related incidents. The standard corporate event PL policy may not specifically cover these exposures. For a concert above 2,000 capacity, the PL policy should be reviewed by an event insurance specialist — not a general commercial insurance broker — to ensure the music event context is covered and the limit is appropriate for the venue's maximum capacity.
Artist no-show cover
Artist no-show (a headliner who cancels on the day, or fails to arrive due to travel disruption) is the most commercially significant single risk in a ticketed concert production. If the headliner doesn't perform, the ticketing obligation to the audience creates a refund liability that can equal the entire ticket revenue. Event cancellation insurance with an artist no-show endorsement covers this liability. The premium: typically 1–3% of the insured value (the sum of artist fee and production cost at risk). Confirm that the policy covers: illness, injury, travel disruption, and — importantly — personal relationship or management disputes that prevent the artist from performing. The last category is excluded by some policies.