Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

Coke Studio originated in Brazil in 2007 as a music project that aimed to combine the distinct musical styles of two Brazilian artists. The concept was later adopted by Nadeem Zaman, the Marketing Head of The Coca-Cola Company, who partnered with Rohail Hyatt, a former member of the Pakistani band Vital Signs, to create a Pakistani version of the show in 2008. The inaugural season premiered with a live audience and was met with immense success. The show was produced by him, along with his wife Umber Hyatt and Nofil Naqvi a Pakistani cinematographer.[4]

From season 2 onwards, the show adopted a closed studio format, which remains the format of the show to date. Rohail Hyatt remained as executive producers for the show until season 6, stepping aside in 2013 after five years.[5] He was succeeded by Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of the band Strings, who produced the show until the end of season 10.[6][7] Strings announced that season 10 would be their last production for Coke Studio.[8][9] In March 2018, Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi were announced as the producers for season 11 of Coke Studio,[10][11] but they stepped down after the season concluded.[12] Rohail Hyatt returned to produce season 12 of the show, which was released on 11 October 2019.[13] Hyatt continued to produce the show until the 13th season,[14] after which he recommended Xulfi to lead the production for the 14th season.[15][16]

On the tenth anniversary of the show in 2017, the General Manager of Coca-Cola Pakistan & Afghanistan, Rizwan U. 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."[17]

Mizraab performing live at Coke Studio, 2011

The show features artists in each episode, by a house band and guest artists. Coke Studio tracks are officially available on their YouTube and SoundCloud channels.[lower-alpha 1]

The music which is recorded live by artists at Coke Studio.[18] The televisual style is characterized by frequent closeups on various performers, emphasizing the collective contributions of the entire ensemble, even as primary focus remains on the lead singer, or singers.[19]

Musically, the format features an always changing and fascinating mix of Western instruments (primarily guitars, pianos, synthesizers, bass guitars, and drum kits) with traditional instruments from the Indian subcontinent (harmonium, rubab, sarod, sitar, bamboo flutes, dholak, tabla, and other traditional percussion instruments). With rare exceptions, the singer is the lead instrumentalist. Other instrumental solos, while often highly virtuosic, tend to be relatively brief.

Below is a list of artists who have performed in Coke Studio.

Following success in Pakistan after its first launch, Coke Studio has become an international franchise. The Pakistani show has amassed a large fan base in neighbouring country, India.[21] The success of the show prompted Coca-Cola to launch the Indian version Coke Studio @ MTV, with a similar format, which has proven to be both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.[22] The Indian version has been produced by MTV India.[23] In April 2012, an Arab version of the show, Coke Studio بالعربي was launched in the Middle East featuring performances by various Arabic and international music artists, produced by the songwriter Michel Elefteriades. Following the success of the Pakistani and Indian version, The Bangladeshi installment Coke Studio Bangla was launched on 7 February 2022.

Coke Studio has also been seen as an economic process of transnationalism and as a transnational television production, with its production systems being created and augmented by global flows of artists, technology, distribution and economics. Within this process, economic structures are created, opened and even reoriented; influences are borrowed and music produced; communities and heritage discovered and remained – this is done intellectually and physically, and more importantly, transnationally.[24]

On 1 November 2017, Atif Aslam's rendition of Sabri Brothers' qawwali "Tajdar-e-Haram" in Coke Studio Season 8 crossed 100 million views on YouTube, becoming the first video originating in Pakistan to achieve the landmark record. It has been viewed in 186 countries across the world. Later, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's rendition of "Afreen Afreen" featuring Momina Mustehsan, on 3 November, became the second video of Pakistani origin to mark 100 million on YouTube. It was released on 19 August 2016, with Faakhir who served as music directed for it; it was originally performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.[25] In season 14 2022, "Pasoori" by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill crossed 313 million views on YouTube and has gone viral in India. As of July 2022, these three videos have surpassed 972+ million views.[26]

• Coke Studio Bangla
• Nescafé Basement
• MTV Unplugged
• Coke Studio India
• Acoustic Station

• Official website
• Coke Studio on Facebook
• Coke Studio on Instagram
• Coke Studio on Twitter
• Coke Studio at IMDb