Comment by Riaz Haq on January 15, 2022 at 11:21am

#Spotify partners with #cokestudio14 to introduce #Pakistani singers to the world. Roster include Meesha Shafi, Momina Mustehsan, Quratulain Balouch, Zain-Zohaib, Karakoram, Eva B, Abdul Wahab Bugti, Abdullah Siddiqui and Talal Qureshi. #Music #Pakistan https://images.dawn.com/news/1189224

If you're Coke Studio Pakistan aficionados, we come bearing good news for you! Your favourite music franchise has partnered up with Spotify, making it easier to listen to your favourite songs from all seasons, whether you're a Free or Premium user on the audio streaming service.

Spotify — a popular global audio streaming subscription service — is now the official music streaming partner of Coke Studio Pakistan. Coke Studio's artists will now have a place to share their music with millions of users on Spotify in and beyond Pakistan.

Starting today (Jan 12), users will be able to songs from all seasons, available for Spotify's Free and Premium users on their mobile and desktop apps. For now, the destination for season 14 on Spotify is only available in the United Kingdom, United States, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. In Pakistan, the season is set to air on January 14 on television channels.

There are also a myriad of playlists on Spotify you can start listening to right away, playlists like Coke Studio Pakistan, Women of Coke Studio Pakistan, Best of: Coke Studio Sufi and many more

Coke Studio released the official trailer for Coke Studio Season 14 on January 9, teasing a a mad line-up of music grandmasters and Gen Z soloists with a promise to revolutionise the music platform. The trailer unveils returning favourites like Abida Parveen, Atif Aslam and Ali Sethi, as well as new kids on the Coke Studio block Hasan Raheem, Young Stunners and Faris Shafi. You'll also catch a glimpse of Grammy nominated artist Arooj Aftab in the trailer!

The roster also includes artists Meesha Shafi, Momina Mustehsan, Quratulain Balouch, Zain-Zohaib, Karakoram, Eva B, Abdul Wahab Bugti, Abdullah Siddiqui and Talal Qureshi amongst many others. Twenty-year-old electro-pop prodigy Siddiqui — who wowed us by making it to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2021 — announced that he worked as an associate producer for Coke Studio as well.

The 14-year-old music platform promises a "new vibe" in its latest season, conscious of the kind of music listeners crave in 2022 -— music that is "direct and uncensored, the way creators intended it to

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 23, 2022 at 7:12am

#Spotify #Pakistan Partnered With ‘Coke Studio’ This Season To Amplify Artists in the Region and Beyond. #Music #CokeStudioSeason14 #Streaming
https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-03-23/spotify-pakistan-partnered-...


When Spotify launched in Pakistan at the start of 2021, we instantly encountered the presence of a fellow powerhouse in music and media: Coke Studio. Since the television show’s premiere in 2008, it has become the longest-running music franchise in Pakistan. Coke Studio’s unique format features in-studio collaborations with both music legends and industry newcomers. And since Coke Studio was already a household name across the South Asian diaspora, both Spotify and Coca-Cola Pakistan (which produces the show) saw that partnering up for Season 14 had the potential to bring generations of Pakistani music to an even larger audience around the world.

“While Coke Studio has been producing music for years, it presented a new vision for 2022, which matched Spotify’s mission to unlock the massive potential of creators and music across Pakistan,” said Khan FM, Head of Artist and Label Partnerships in Pakistan. “At Spotify, we’re proud of our global reach in music, so it made absolute sense for the ‘Sound of the Nation’—Coke Studio’s tagline—to be heard all around the world.”

This season, Coke Studio introduced fans to 13 new songs with contributions from more than 30 artists. And following this week’s season finale, they can all be found on Spotify’s Coke Studio: Pakistan hub.

Beyond the new tracks from Season 14, Coke Studio: Pakistan also gives fans access to all the hits from previous seasons. And listeners who want to dig deeper into the Coke Studio discography can find curated playlists like This is: Coke Studio Pakistan, Women of: Coke Studio Pakistan, Best of: Coke Studio Fusion, Best of: Coke Studio Sufi, Best of: Coke Studio Pakistan, and more. The hub is a destination for artists to share their music with Spotify’s 406 million listeners, many of whom can be found in the U.S., the U.K., Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

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For 2022, the most exciting duo was for the first single, “Tu Jhoom,” which brought together the living legend Abida Parveen with Naseebo Lal. The song resonated across South Asia and eventually the world, becoming one of the most sought-after releases from Coke Studio.

A fan-favorite would be Ali Sethi’s “Pasoori,” which not only introduced the audiences to a new artist—Shae Gill—but also became one of the most-streamed tracks on Spotify’s global charts. Lastly, another favorite would be “Mehram,” a slow ballad of sorts that brings together Asfar Hussain (lead vocalist from the band Bayaan) and two-time Grammy nominee Arooj Aftab, who is also the EQUAL Ambassador of the Month for Spotify Pakistan this March.

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 25, 2022 at 6:52pm

Informed by Urdu verse, mythological vultures and her brother’s death, the US-Pakistani musician’s (Arooj Aftab's) latest album is unexpectedly up for one of the ‘big four’ prizes – and she’s only just left her day job. She explains how it became ‘a letting go’

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/24/my-music-is-singular-...

‘Now I am a full-time artist, maybe I won’t just die of natural causes sitting at my office desk,” says a relieved Arooj Aftab. “Maybe I’ve created a record that can support me.”

The Pakistani-American singer and composer is speaking from her Brooklyn apartment, six weeks after her third album, Vulture Prince, won her two Grammy nominations. This poignant, grief-immured collection of reimagined Urdu verse and ghazals (Arabic verses of loss and longing) has earned the 36-year-old one nod as best new artist – one of the ceremony’s “big four” awards – and another for best global music performance, up against heavyweights Angélique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma. It has been a rapid ascent after more than a decade of music-making; it was only in 2021 that she left her day job as an audio engineer to pursue music full-time.
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Born in Saudi Arabia, moving to her parents’ native Lahore at 11 and later settling in the US, Aftab absolutely is global in many ways, and that background is what helps her confound traditionalists. After an early taste of viral fame with a tender cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah when she was in her teens, she won a scholarship to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music for a degree in music production and engineering. Graduating in the throes of the 2008 recession, she landed in New York to begin her career.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 10, 2023 at 4:51pm

Spotify Turns Up the Volume in Pakistan With Events and Music Campaigns

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-04-06/spotify-turns-up-the-volume...


Two years ago, we introduced Spotify to listeners in Pakistan. Since the launch, we’ve worked with the country’s artists to expand their reach and share their music with new fans worldwide—and now we’re taking things to a new level.

March marked the first anniversary of our EQUAL women’s empowerment program in Pakistan, with singer Tina Sani as the Ambassador of the Month. RADAR, which highlights emerging artists from all around the world, also recently made its debut in Pakistan, featuring Taha G up first. He’s at the top of the RADAR Pakistan playlist, and Spotify worked with the singer to create a mini-documentary that spotlights his life and career.

In addition to bringing these programs to the region, we’re finding unique ways—from Masterclasses to cricket campaigns to local playlists—to connect with artists.

Lending artists support with a Masterclass in Lahore
Our music industry experts were ready to share their knowledge during a Spotify for Artists Masterclass event in Lahore, PK. “We hosted at the historical Haveli Barood Khana mansion, and used this opportunity to educate and share information on music streaming trends and new product features with the burgeoning music industry in the region,” shared Khan FM, Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Renowned Coke Studio music producer, curator and artist Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan shared his perspective on the Pakistani music industry with an audience that included more than 150 artists and their teams.

Spotify gets in the cricket spirit
“Cricket is huge in Pakistan, and Spotify highlighted the nation’s love for the game by launching a cricket marketing campaign and digging into the data* of the popular Cricket Fever playlist,” shared Talha Hashim, Marketing Manager for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The curated collection has seen a staggering 611% increase in streams since the beginning of Pakistan Super League 08 (PSL) this year. Among other trends, we noticed:

Karachi is the top city streaming the playlist.
Tuesdays and evenings are when the playlist sees the most streams.
Top songs include “Groove Mera – Pakistan Super League” by Aima Baig, Naseebo Lal, and Young Stunners and “Agay Dekh (Pakistan Super League)” by Atif Aslam and Aima Baig.

Celebrating local artists with Pakka Hit Hai
The Pakka Hit Hai playlist is the go-to Spotify destination for Pakistan’s top hits. “The playlist first launched in 2022 and has seen incredible growth and popularity since its inception. To celebrate, Spotify partnered with COLABS for a concert series called Pakka Hit Hai Live,” said Rutaba Yaqub, Senior Editor for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The first show featured Fresh Finds success Abdul Hannan and Taha G, two of the best-performing artists on the playlist. Bringing the playlist to more fans through live events is one way we’re expanding its reach.

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