MUMBAI: After Coke Studio Pakistan changed its format last season, MTV Coke Studio India has followed suit with its fourth season. After a 17-month hiatus, the upcoming season will have elements of the older seasons while adding new features. In addition to background profiles on the artistes, the collaboration and the final studio recording, the fourth season will also have music videos being specially designed for each individual song. MTV Coke Studio Seasons 1-3 had eight to nine episodes, which lasted an hour. However, Season 4 will have 12 episodes of 30 minutes each.

In an interesting turn of events, this season called ‘Always On’ will air only one episode, once a month for the next 12 months startingSunday, 1 March. This marks the first time in the Coke Studio franchise that a season of Coke Studio will last a whole year. Addressing this change, MTV Business Head Aditya Swamy said, “Everyone is trying to do something different. Coke Studio Pakistan got the bands Strings as producers this season. So, everyone is trying to do their own thing. In Pakistan, they do three to four studio music videos for each episode. Here, we have got a bit of the old element, and at the same time we have this new element. And, as a purist, I want to see that.”

The new season will feature Coke Studio veterans like Papon, Amit Trivedi, Clinton Cerejo and Ram Sampath, who will be joined by new entrees Rekha Bhardwaj, Bollywood music composer duo Sachin-Jingar, MTV Sound Trippin’s Sneha Khanwalkar, Harshdeep Kaur, Pritam and hip hop artiste Raftaar. Unlike the last two seasons, the tracks in season 4 will not be mixed and mastered by Steve Fitzmaurice’s Pierce Entertainment. There is no information yet on who will be handling it for the upcoming season.

"The minute the episode ends, the tracks will go live everywhere,” said Swamy on the availability of the songs for streaming and download. The tracks will be available on Gaana, Saavn, Wynk Music and iTunes via Zee Music, instead of Sony Music which previously distributed the music. MTV will also release a compilation album of all the tracks at the end of 12 episodes.

For season 1, MTV Coke Studio held miniature concerts (minicerts) across the country, which had the Coke Studio musical caravan touring the country with well known artistes like Kailash Kher, Tochi Raina, Harshdeep, Angaraag Mahanta, Mathangi, Sanjeev T and Lesle Lewis. For its sophomore season, along with minicerts, MTV Coke Studio held its first “megacert” at the Lovely Professional University campus. Similar concerts were held across major college campuses across the country in the season that followed. This year, Coke Studio aspires to continue its journey of bringing live experiences through more than 50 concerts and outreach programs, reaching 100 colleges across 10 cities.

Coke Studio started in Brazil in 2007 as ‘Coca Cola Studio’; unfortunately, it was not renewed for more seasons due to unfavourable reception. However, the format was picked up the following year by Pakistan, emphasising on the musical fusion concept that has reshaped the music culture in the country. This concept inspired a successful international franchise, bringing Coke Studio to India in 2011 and Coke Studio Middle East and North Africa in 2012.