Coca-Cola is expanding Coke Studio, a music platform that builds on the program originally launched in Pakistan in 2008, to a global stage. The global CokeStudio program is digital-first, always-on and provides an opportunity for emerging talent to partner, create and deliver moments of musical magic to new audiences. Its first moment will come to life through a global film titled ‘The Conductor’ that features seven artists collaborating to reimagine the iconic Queen track ‘A Kind of Magic’.
Coke Studio and ‘The Conductor’ are the newest expressions of Real Magic – the new global brand philosophy that Coca-Cola introduced late last year. The core of the platform is the belief that our differences make the world a richer place in which to live – and that “Real Magic” happens when we come together through shared experiences, both digitally and in real life.
“Coke Studio is a direct extension of Coca-Cola’s Real Magic philosophy,” said Pratik Thakar, Head of Global Creative Strategy and Content, Coca-Cola. “It celebrates the unique ability of music to unite and uplift and provides a connection point for fans around the world to come together and enjoy a new experience.”
‘The Conductor’ pays homage to the legendary rock band Queen through a unique collaboration that encapsulates the multicultural magic at the core of the Coke Studio platform. The 2 minute film centers on a re-recording of Queen’s iconic ‘A Kind of Magic’ melody, produced in an extraordinary collaboration with global breakthrough artists who each bring their own unique style to the music, reimagining the track for a new generation.
The artists include Grammy nominated American R&B sensation Ari Lennox; British singer songwriter Griff; Turkish electro-pop producer Ekin Beril; Latin urban pop powerhouse Mariah Angeliq; Nigerian singer songwriter and producer Tems; Canadian-Indian rapper and producer Tesher; and colourful, multi-lingual K-Pop girl band TRI.BE.
In addition to the film, each of the seven artists have also recorded their own versions of ‘A Kind of Magic’ which, together with additional exclusive tracks and behind-the-scenes footage, will be accessible on the CokeStudioYoutubeHub beginning today. Content can also be unlocked through the on-pack activation ‘Drink. Scan. Enjoy’ – which sees packs of Coca-Cola turn into digital portals: a gateway for people to connect with the new global Coke Studio content.
“The Coke Studio platform was born in Pakistan and has gone on to have great success there as well as in Africa and the Philippines, including 11 million YouTube subscribers,” Thakar said. “We believe it has the potential for exponential growth, and today we’re excited to introduce it to a wider global audience, using the reach of our iconic brand to help bring new audiences to some extraordinary artists.”
“We set out to do something different with Coke Studio,” said Joshua Burke, Head of Global Music & Culture Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company. “Coca-Cola has always had a strong connection with music, working with stand-out emerging talent in different communities in all corners of the world, as well as a strong heritage in connecting people across borders and cultures. Coke Studio brings these two things together in a way that’s powerful and future-facing, supporting the development of talent in the music industry, while also connecting new audiences to new music – and to each other.”
Burke also said: “We see ‘The Conductor’ as both a homage to the legendary Queen and an opportunity to refresh and reinterpret one of their greatest tracks in different ways across cultures and musical genres, for a new generation. There’s magic in that too.”
The launch of Coke Studio and ‘The Conductor’ has been curated in partnership with Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment, with five of the participating breakthrough artists signed to the company’s iconic record labels, and a sixth with its Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) division. ‘The Conductor’ was created with creative agency, BETC London and produced with Iconoclast’s director Pierre Dupaquier (WAFLA).
“Collaborating with these incredible artists and the Coca-Cola team on both the music and creative vision for this launch was magic,” said Richard Yaffa, EVP, Global Brands, Universal Music Group. “Our companies are aligned in our deep commitment to showcasing phenomenal talent, to partnering with artists from all over the globe and to supporting them in sharing their music while creating opportunities to expand their fanbase.”
Verge CEO Andre Dixon sat down with Joshua Burke, Global Head of Music & Culture Marketing at The Coca Cola Company to discuss Coke Studio and its future plans.
Andre: So let’s go from the start, tell us all about Coke Studio.
Joshua: This started as a new platform 12/14 years ago in in Pakistan and has grown to be a massive cultural music platform in the region. Since then, there’s been other launches of Coke Studio in Malaysia, and South Africa and we saw a lot of potential for a global stage. We knew if we did expand globally, frankly we had to go big because Coca-Cola has a really big legacy in music like the World Cup anthems, the Olympics and all the big programs that we do. Plus Coca-Cola has a big heritage of connecting people and bringing people together across cultures and cross borders.
Coke Studio Global is essentially one unified platform where we’re inviting breakthrough artists from all over the world to come together and join in one celebration with the fans and consumers around the world, which offers new music and music experiences.
What I mean by breakthrough, which is kind of cool, is all these artists that you saw tonight. And, some of varying degree, are pretty renowned in their country, but maybe not renowned globally yet. So, when we say breakthrough, we mean artists that are at that tipping points that will, you know, become the next big global stars.
And we worked with our partners at Universal Music Group to identify that class of 2022 expression. So for us, we want to look at this as a way to provide to music fans from all around the world, new experiences and not just music content but, through tickets and prizes. Also, different types of concerts and live performances and of course, content, is a way to experience music at a big scale across cultures and across borders in a really special way. So that was ultimately the vision of Coca Cola.
Andre: So what is your personal role within Coke Studio?
Joshua: I’ve been involved in music my whole life. I started as a musician who played saxophone and then I transitioned into the marketing and brand space.
I’ve always been very passionate about the development of emerging talents, all artists, but specifically artists that are emerging, unsigned, just signed, or at that tipping point – at that breakthrough level. That’s my own personal mission.
But, I interestingly I was at Universal Music Group for four years, based here in London, and at the time I was on the team that was working with Coke on the launch of this Coke Studio platform. So in January of this year, I joined the Coca-Cola team and then was essentially just in the same conversation, just on the other side of it!
You’ve been involved as you said, from the inception of Coke Studios to now officially being part of the team. So what was your personal goals moving forward for this product?
Yeah, good question. So, first of all, I think that the world has evolved in a lot of ways, for obvious reasons recently, music has evolved, music fandom has evolved as has being in the music industry. People like to say that genres are not really thing anymore. Of course, they are.
When I was young, music releases happened on a Friday, I would go into the store, there’d be like three albums and my goal was to get that album as quick as I could because if I listen to it before my friends then that made me cool you know! Also, back in the days you probably remember people dressed like their genre listens. Now it’s way more democratised and it’s opened up to the world which it’s very, very exciting. But I think the there is an irony in the conflict of choice, you know?
So I think what Coke Studio does is curate these artists and their music to try to bring something very, very special to the program. In terms of a long-term vision, the way that the music industry works with brands is also evolved. I think historically 99% of it is licencing a piece of music to an ad campaign or having a big artist hold a product to endorse. Right now, we’re trying to build a new way of working with the music industry, where we take the scale and scope of this huge brand to actually bring value to the music industry and partner with the artists in the way that will bring value back to us, value back to them, to the artist, to consumers and fans.
That’s the goal here. Right now we’re starting with seven artists, representing different regions; we’re gonna be expanding them even further, bringing even more music but ultimately, we want artists to be want to be a part of this platform and to raise their hand and say Coke Studios. The model is moving from advertising to experiences. And that’s ultimately what we’re trying to build with this program.
Will there be a space for unsigned artists?
There might be in the future, and obviously our mission is to bring more music and more artists around the world and across borders. So, I think nothing’s off the table, but I think ultimately that is a long-term.
Check out ‘The Conductor’ and Coke Studio global platform on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/CokeStudioGlobal
