The start of this year saw Coke Studio dropping the trailer for its fourteenth season. The long-running series has had an undeniable impact on the Pakistani musical industry and its culture.
For fourteen years, Coke Studio has brought together Pakistani artists, both from the old and the new to bring about a unique mix of music that has produced remarkable tracks for more than a decade. Every year saw an improvement in production quality as well as a more diverse mix of creators and the catalogue speaks (or sings) for itself.
This year we see the likes of Abida Parween and Naseeb lal as well as newer additions like breakout pop icons Hasan Raheem and Shae Gill who are just beginning their promising music careers.
The Beginnings
The origins of Coke Studio come from a very unlikely source-Brazil. The first iteration of Coke Studio was a concept of concerts held in Brazil promoted by the Coca-Cola company. This was held in 2007 and the next year saw it being imported to Pakistan by Nadeem Zaman, The Marketing Head for the company. He went into a partnership with Rohail Hyatt of Vital Signs to kick-start the show in 2008.
This early iteration stuck to its roots as a concert with a live audience. Ali Azmat, Strings, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan were featured in the opening season of the show and the star-power was enough to have the show become an instant hit. Repeats were broadcast over all mainstream media for some time to come and the potential of the show was instantly recognized.
The Format
Season 2 saw the exclusion of the live audience with it becoming a recording studio format instead, with artists in a well-directed setting performing their music in a closed setting. Josh, Strings, Ali Azmat and others performed to continue the sky-rocketing in popularity for the show.
The video formatting of the studio setting, good quality sound and video production, introcuction of new budding artists and the mixing of western and traditional genres made this into a hot-pot for creating and promoting good music each year.
A New Genre
In 2010 folk singer Arif Lohaar collaborated with pop icon Meesha Shafi to sing Alif Allah, Jugni which garnered 10s of millions of views on YouTube. This brought new life to his career and also introduced folk music to a larger audience that had stopped listening to folk music. This blend of catchiness with soulful folk music became one of the most successful genres on the show that has seen it being recreated across the border aswell.
The popularity of the format also inspired other companies to sponsor and create similar shows that have also contributed to the music industry of the country.
In 2017, the General Manager of Coca-Cola Pakistan, Rizwan Khan stated.
“We have come a long way since we embarked on this challenging journey a decade ago. Looking back, we feel greatly humbled that Coke Studio has been able to achieve so much, in terms of bringing virtually unknown or little known musicians into the national limelight, re-introducing music genres like Qawwali and Sufi music to the youth of Pakistan, continuing to stay true to the promise of producing quality fusion of music and practically playing an important role in reviving the music industry of Pakistan.”
The show was not only a hit in Pakistan, but garnered an audience abroad due its availability on YouTube and SoundCloud which has caused neighboring India to also begin similar shows (e.g. CokeStudexMTV) which have become similar hits there as well.
Season Fourteen
Season 14 has not disappointed either with fans raving about Ali Sethi and Shae Gill’s Pasoori with its Reggae inspired Rubab music. Thus Coke Studio has stuck true to its roots of blending traditional music with internationally inspired rhythms to promote musical expression to a level that has not been seen before.
Hasan Raheem, Abida Parveen, Momina Mustehsen and Naseebo Lal are all set to show off their respected talents in the new season and we are hopeful that novel ideas continue to breathe new life into our entertainment industry.
