The void in the Indian music industry, which has always been dominated by Bollywood, will soon be filled by Coke Studio – a platform to promote fusion music by collaborating singers from across India, who will be lending their regional flavours to create experimental music, Zee News reported. Bringing the concept to India for the first time, Coca-Cola has partnered with music channel MTV to create the show `Coke Studio@MTV`. “This is one of Coca-Cola`s pioneering endeavours worldwide to connect with our audiences – an exceptional platform for music that has time and again given audiences an unforgettable experience of fusion music created by a unique ensemble of artists,” said Atul Singh, president and chief executive officer, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia. “Through Coke Studio, we are not just creating a refreshing new genre of music but also providing a platform to this enormous pool of musical talent to showcase their unique brand of music,” he added. As many as 45 singers from across the country of various genres like folk, classical and qawwali, will team up with other artists and churn out new composition with various interpretations.
It was a medley of music in the capital`s The Grand hotel Monday evening when singers of various genres from all over India, each with a distinctive musical flavour of their own, performed to promote heir upcoming show, `Coke Studio@MTV`, that endeavours to encourage fusion music away from the Bollywood space. The Indian music industry has always been dominated by Bollywood, composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan, who sang two songs, admitted. “Bollywood music has taken most of the share of the entire pie. There is nothing else is India which is as popular as Bollywood. Look at Indian classical music, how big and how respected it is in the west, but here in India, no one is interested,” Mahadevan told reporters. “Here, music is known by hero’s name. But as you see, Bollywood is huge, I admit, but isn’t our country huge too? So there are various folks artists, Sufi singers…there is so much of untapped talent in the industry, because they don’t have any takers. So Coke Studio is here to fill in that void,” he added. – Dailytimes