[1]: Yes, there's a Coke Studio India as well, and an eternal raging debate about which version of Coke Studio is better. I gotta admit though, the Pakistan version has a lot more memorable tunes. :D [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffaqVXuWO9o&list=PL4fGSI1pDJ...
This one's a personal favorite of mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUqRXjCM8Gg
Although I assume people are listening to it through other means too?
Pakistanis share common languages with only a part of India, the main languages being Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi. India also has roughly the same number of muslims as there are people in Pakistan. People outside of the Hindi belt in India might not speak Hindi/Urdu or Punjabi, regardless of their religious identity. Historically speaking, people of the subcontinent have identified more with their ethno-linguistic identity than with their religious identity, no matter what the politics of these countries as well as the talking points of the politicians of these countries might make you feel. Evidence of this fact can be seen in the reasons for the existence of Bangladesh as a country. They separated from West Pakistan on the basis of their Bengali Identity. Similarly in India today, there is a strong movement in South India against the imposition of the Hindi language.
When it comes to music, there are two broad schools of classical music, Hindustani Classical that is from the North of India and now Pakistan, and Carnatic music that is predominantly from the South of India. Hindustani Classical music has always had a shared contribution from Pakistani and Indian signers. Many Pakistani singers (such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and Atif Aslam) have contributed significantly to this school, as well as to modern Bollywood music, and there are many such artists in India as well (such as Zakir Hussein). Many Indian lyricists write Hindi/Urdu songs for Bollywood as well (such as Gulzar).
Arguably music and arts have always unified the two countries while other factors have caused rifts.
This is not true. People in the Indian state of West Bengal also speak Bengali and have a Bengali identity. The split of Bengal into West Bengal and Bangladesh was based on religion.
This is the first time in 5 years that they have hit over 100M views in Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/c/cokestudio/videos?view=0&sort=p&fl...
Sorry to dissappoint.
Not a fan of this song but there are other Coke Studio songs that I love. For instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjaH2iuoYWE
Conde Nast. Vanguard. Black Rock.
And journalists that write click-bait titles and little substance that provides content reflecting the title.
The real question is why are we seeing this here on HN?
I'd rather embrace something I hope for, despite a possible bitter taste, rather than roll my eyes which seems to be your preference ...
I sense something similar to Korean culture being broken up into north and south. of course in all cases there's a local power helping... but the real drive for the split are foreign powers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech-news/googles-india-...
But since Bollywood is the heavyweight, it therefore creates a gravitational effect, where successful musicians tend to gravitate towards the type of music that would better fit Bollywood's needs, instead of taking risks.
And Bollywood in turn heavily promote the music, which tends to drown out all the competition.
This means that for the average Indian, despite having a diverse set of musicians, the usual youtube/spotify recommendations tend to become the "same old".
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Meanwhile, In Pakistan, the more conservative/religious background meant that there was far less cultural acceptance for a career in music. Ofcourse, the old great musical lineages still exist, but the industry has stagnated some what. Cinemas have started to close, and there isn't much a film industry anymore.
Most singers were of the safe "pop" variety that could be played on state owned TV. Any chance of making a fanbase by concerts vanished when terrorists started threatening to attack venues post 9/11. Singers changed industry to either acting in TV dramas, or left it altogether of other ventures. ( You can find Pakistani Rock stars running a dollar store in Scranton or running a radio Channel in Houston)
This mean that there is more risk taking, since most people making music are doing it out of passion, not because they believe this could lead to a career. And they take to social media, and have an equal chance of getting on your recommended list as some one who is already established.
This means that Indians looking for some "fresh" music are getting some interesting choices from across the border, since these tend to not be drowned out by music labels.
Also, now Brands are using the social media scene to make their own channels. Coke, Pepsi, Nescafe, Walls ice cream, heck even Strepsils have their own small music scene, just make a small music studio, hire a house band and invite singers to jam and essentially create a musical ad
I feel that these new programs have now also devolved into a same old routine where singers are now, instead of creating new music and taking risks, are just taking old popular songs and covering them with a new twist, the title of the old song providing an incentive to click.
++++
Still, Pasoori was a good song, it was not just a cover of an old song and it was not just a jam session with the house band, so good for Coke Studio to encourage some thing beyond the routine
Assuming you're not familiar with Hindustani classical music, it's quite possible you're just not picking up on some of it, while many South Asians who grew up on it do understand it (even if they haven't had formal training.)
I invite you to listen to Coke Studio btw, the older songs are amazing!
