On a warm September afternoon, fans of Punjabi artist Karan Aujla made their way to New Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall to experience something in secret. Three days before the release of Aujla’s upcoming two-part EP, Aujla SZN 1 and Aujla SZN 2, they got an exclusive first look at the album art.
“We’re the first ones in the country to actually do something like this, where we’re celebrating art as well,” said Aaquib Wani, the Creative Director of Aujla’s ongoing P-Pop Culture World Tour and the brain behind the pop-up. “We’re celebrating the launch of it in a way that is, again, a fan-first experience, rather than how we’ve always seen listening parties. Listening parties become more of a networking event, whereas here we felt, let’s just keep it to limited numbers.”
The exhibition, called Two EPs. One Room, had a vintage monitor showcasing B-roll footage from music videos and a diary with lyrics to one of the songs handwritten in Punjabi by Aujla. According to Wani, the organisers of the event had received 10,000 registrations from all around the world. Instead of simply posting two JPEGs on Instagram and waiting for the comments section to do its thing, Aujla made the reveal itself an event.
Aujla’s immersive pop-up experience is one of the many examples of how Indian artists are thinking about giving back to their devoted listeners. They’re perhaps taking notes from global artists who saw the value in nurturing this relationship way before. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, for instance, turned the friendship bracelet, inspired by ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’ from her 2022 album Midnights, into something akin to a uniform for Swifties. The BTS Army is perhaps one of the clearest examples of fandom being treated as an ecosystem. They have regular fan interactions via livestreams, listening parties, meet-ups, behind-the-scenes access and pop-ups, all facilitated by the boy band’s label.
Indian fans too have shown that they can show up in droves for their favourite artists. Artists are now mindfully paying them back for their loyalty. In June this year, Anuv Jain hosted an intimate session with Spotify India for around 100 fans who were selected after acing an in-app quiz testing their knowledge of his songs. They were treated to never-heard-before stories behind their favourite songs straight from Jain himself.
Darshan Raval’s fanbase began growing organically around 2014 after his stint on the singing reality show India’s Raw Star. A dedicated fandom began calling itself ‘Blue Army’, after Raval revealed blue to be his favourite colour. A post by a sponsor involved with his Manipal concert shared that merchandise made for the Blue Army was distributed with every ticket purchased. His official website now features a dedicated Blue Circle initiative where fans can access exclusive merchandise drops and other updates on the artist.
Merchandising has also come a long way from just being a T-shirt or a cap plastered with a recognisable logo plastered on it. Jinal Ajmera, MyFandom’s co-founder, a direct-to-fan platform and media company, adds that fans influence design decisions at every step. “There are several things in a fan’s buying decision: quality, design, value and the feeling of belonging to a community. Younger fans are active participants in culture. They want official merchandise that reflects the communities they identify with. At the same time, they ask practical questions: Is it official? Is it well made? Does it feel worth the price? How involved is the artist? That’s fan math, I suppose.”
Fandoms, when built smartly, not only impact an artist’s longevity in a highly competitive space but also have a commercial significance. Talwiinder, known for his signature ghoulish face paint and alternative pop and R&B tracks, has a largely Gen-Z fanbase who call themselves ‘Misfits’. Reportedly, at the Ludhiana leg of his 2025 Halloween tour, a crowd of more than 8,000 fans arrived wearing Talwiinder’s signature look to show their solidarity to their favourite artist.
While we’re yet to see something as well-oiled as the BTS Army emerge from India, it is clear artists and their teams are working towards sharpening the art of building fandoms.
