Coca-Cola's Arnab Roy: ‘Coke Studio Bharat has brought both celebrated and emerging artists together on one platform’

Arnab Roy, vice-president, marketing, Coca-Cola India, and Southwest Asia for Coke Studio Bharat.

If you are a true-blue music lover, you know all about Coke Studio. Over the years, it has been one of the finest representations of music democratisation across the world. Now, Coca-Cola India has brought it back in a fresh avatar — Coke Studio Bharat. The music sheets this time, go into the heart of India — the lore, the folk, the contemporary, the seasons, the cultures, the people. The debut song of Coke Studio Bharat, Udja, is now live with Oaff and Savera, Burrah featuring Jasleen Royal.

In an interview, Arnab Roy, vice-president, marketing, Coca-Cola India, and Southwest Asia for Coke Studio Bharat spoke all about the show's new avatar. Edited excerpts:

What’s the ethos of the new Coke Studio Bharat?

Coke Studio, a globally acclaimed platform, has always aimed to celebrate authentic regional music. Musical traditions from multiple regions in India are at an inflexion point not only in India but even globally. Coke Studio Bharat connects the truly distinct cultural dots of various regions in the country with artists whose music is defined by their roots. They are the real stars of the season, giving regional music a bigger impetus. Our theme for the season is "Apna Sunao" — music that tells the story of all us, our rootedness and authenticity, curated for a global audience.

Tell us all about it, how did it all begin?

After the overwhelming success in many countries across the globe, Coca-Cola announced the first season of "Coke Studio Bharat" in Mumbai. Over the last decade, Coke Studio has been one of the most successful music properties globally with active presence in Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Egypt, Bangladesh and many more countries. The launch of Coke Studio Bharat is a respect to the depth of talent and music forms in the country which hasn’t received mainstream recognition. It has been conceptualised to spotlight artists and music from the hinterlands, without changing the authenticity of each of their individual niches. There is a huge appetite for music discovery globally. The younger generation is also seeking out music that connect them with their roots, and enables freedom of expression.

What is the line-up going to be like and the tracks? 

This season is an amalgamation of more than 50 artists from across the country who have come together to create 10-plus memorable tracks celebrating the roots of Bharat. The season has been beautifully curated by Ankur Tiwari and his think-tank team Kausar Munir and KJ Singh. What they’ve managed to put together is real magic. The current season features celebrated artists and musicians like Amira Gill, Achint, Aditya Gadhvi, Arijit Datta, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Ashima Mahajan, Armaan Malik, Bombay Brass, Burrah, Charan Raj, Deveshi Sahgal, Dhruv Vishwanath, Diljit Dosanjh, Donn Bhatt, Hashbass, Jasleen Royal, Kanwar Grewal, Mahan Sehgal, Mansa Pandey, Maithili Thakur & Brothers, Mohammad Muneem, Noor Mohammad, OAFF & Savera, Osho Jain, Prabhdeep, Rashmeet Kaur, Seedhe Maut, Sakur Khan & Sons, Sanjith Hegde, Shillong Chamber Choir, Tajdar Junaid, and many others in a canvas of diversity, that showcases authentic and unique sounds that will unite fans from across the country.

Coke Studio has always been big, how will the new Coke Studio Bharat add to it?

Coke Studio Bharat is all about emerging artists. Artists from suburbs of the country, artists who sing in their regional languages or about their local folk traditions, and even artists who have given their own unique twists to international music genres. Coke Studio Bharat isn’t about the scale, it is entirely about the music — mesmerising, relatable, emotion-inducing, powerful music. With Coke Studio Bharat Season One, both celebrated and emerging artists have come together on one platform to tell stories that evoke emotions of connectedness with the cultural philosophy.

How will the hyperlocal strategy of Coke Studio Bharat be complemented with region specific iterations?

Coke Studio has always been a language-based music platform with different genres of music in various languages — Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Telugu, Tamil. We will have music from states, including Punjab, Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Kolkata, Mumbai, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.  India is too nuanced, multicultural and talented to fit into the confines of a few songs to truly showcase its invaluable heritage. That’s the motivation behind taking a language-first approach with the launch of Coke Studio Tamil recently with Arivu and Sean Ronald, and Telugu last year with Memu Agamu featuring Tribe, Armaan Mallik and Allu Arjun. They complement the national showcase with a deeper immersion into a particular culture. The songs are bolstered by seasoned sounds of musical instruments that are symbolic of culture and tradition such as the algozha, chimta, duff, sarod, sarangi, tumbi, and rabaab.

How does Coke Studio Bharat work with the brand goals?

Coca-Cola™ is powered by the global brand philosophy called Real Magic™ which invites everyone, everywhere to celebrate the real magic of humanity. Central to the philosophy is the belief that our differences make the world a richer and more interesting place. What better way to do this, than through music — the most unifying universal medium there is. Coke Studio Bharat is a representation of this very credo.