MTV revamps Coke Studio format; to air all year round

An experiment that began with fusion music over three seasons back is all set to return once again. Coke Studio @MTV season four is all set to telecast in a new format this year.

Speaking to us about the same, MTV EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said that the success of the property today lay in the fact that filmmakers have started asking music composers to produce songs, which have a Coke Studio feel to them.

MTV and Coca Cola have followed two cues to take the show’s new season forward. “Firstly, we have decided to bring audio and video together to refresh audiences through music videos. Secondly, it has been learnt that people are consuming singles rather than albums. Therefore, we will move from episodes to singles throughout the year.”

The format for this year will see a change. The property will move from seasons to “always on” for one year now. It will be narrated in the form of a story instead of just vanilla songs. The series will begin on 1 March 2015 and will air every first Sunday of the month at 8 pm.

The production will include three elements. The first element of the show will include producer profiles and the idea behind the song. Secondly, it will have studio sessions and the setup of the band and lastly there will be a novel element, which will be a stylized video and audio told in the form of a story. Each of these videos and audios will release simultaneously across all MTV platforms. It will be deployed across all audio and video platforms like YouTube, Saavn, Gaana and iTunes by Zee Music. The channel will also be re-releasing two audience favourites “*****i” and “Kattey” with new music videos.

Speaking about the learning’s the channel has picked up so far, Swamy said that it has been to come up with better innovations. “In the technical sphere we have learnt to produce audio and video side by side. With the response we have garnered, we could find courage to innovate and come up with a format that not only caters to loyalists but also help bring on board new consumers,” Swamy informed.

Talking about the brand integration concept, Swamy said that the two have seen a long term investment partnership. “People will take to branded content if the music is good, but if the content is not good and is in the consumers face directly they will hate the same,” he opined.

The global beverage brand Coca Cola owns the IP of the property, which has its presence in other countries like Pakistan and therefore the channel does not resort to other advertisers coming onboard.

Speaking about the brand’s association with MTV, Coca Cola India and South West Asia VP marketing and commercial Debabrata Mukherjee said, “We are constantly in touch to come up with engaging content. When we began, we did not realise the groundswell response we would receive. Since 2013 to 2014 we have visited more than 15 cities visiting different colleges as part of our on ground events.”

This year Coke Studio will continue bring the live experiences through 50 concerts and outreach programmes reaching 100 colleges across 10 cities.

Mukherjee informed that the property has become hugely popular over seasons. Sharing some insights, he said Coke Studio @MTV has registered over 150 million+ reach across all three seasons. On social media platforms, it has garnered 64 million view on YouTube and 2.9 million fans on Facebook. He also informed that the brand is open to inviting international artists to India.

Speaking on the association of the two partners Group M ESP national director- entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik opined, “The property has become very much synonymous with the brand. There is also a lot of cult following that consumes this kind of music. At some point in time, it will definitely resonate with the brand and the TG. From a relevance point of view this has worked for the brand Coca Cola as people have become very much synonymous with the brand.”

The line up for this season includes the likes of Amit Trivedi, Pritam, Papon, Clinton Cerejo, Sachin-Jingar, Ram Sampath, Sneha Khanwalkar, Harshdeep Kaur, Raftaar and Rekha Bhardwaj.

When asked about the property’s USP, Bhardwaj said, “Coke Studio @MTV has allowed us artists to treat the platform as our own. It has also helped popularise folk as well contemporary music through fusion. Every episode will feature a single song and will allow us to take our own interpretation to the audiences.”