Pakistan has always been recognised for its music on an international level. A lot of talented singers and composers from Pakistan in the genres of qawwali, classical and semi-classical music enjoy global fame. Despite all this talent still thriving in the country, we have seen a massive increase in the commercialisation of music since the arrival of Coke Studio in 2008. After Coke Studio, Nescafé Basement, the resurgent Pepsi Battle of the Bands, Velo Sound Station, Bisconni Music and Kashmir Beats are following along the same lines. These platforms have indeed introduced many new musicians and popular songs, but how effective are they in promoting quality music? I reached out to several prominent composers, singers, producers and critics to find out.

Wali Hamid, son of renowned musician Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, had serious reservations, saying that these days there are many vocalists who cannot perform live because their singing is dependent on digital masking. “Besides, there are only a few songs that are being repeated with a different style in every programme. This trend of remixing old songs discourages creativity.” He added that mostly novices are performing in these music programmes funded by big brands. These brands, he said, should follow a format in which emerging talent collaborates with veterans like Ustad Ghulam Ali, Abida Perveen and Hamid Ali Khan. Hamid bemoaned the neglect of traditional music, especially songs in regional languages. He also emphasised the dearth of record labels in the country.

PTV Lahore executive producer Mohsin Jaffer, who has extensive experience in the industry, said that “music is a very serious thing. Many brands use music to promote their businesses, but in this process, the singers are suffering. Newcomers use autotune to mix their songs, and some of them do get famous as well. However, the fact remains that many of them can’t sing live, which is the ultimate test of a real singer.” He said there were people pretending to be musicians who had never adequately rehearsed their act and didn’t have even a rudimentary knowledge of music. He added, “if we want to commercialise our music, then we will to at least choose [to showcase] actual singers. There is plenty of them.” Jaffer says while there are a lot of benefits to commercialising the music industry, we need to promote original music, especially regional and folk music.

On the other hand, singer and composer Ali Zafar was of the view that something was better than nothingHe said musicians needed money to record their songs and produce music videos and they couldn’t rely solely on the income generated from monetising their YouTube channels. “I think if musicians are associated with a brand, they are free from the financial hassles and their music gets promoted on a bigger level. Ultimately, I think it is beneficial for Pakistani music,” Zafar argued. Sharing his personal experience, he said that once in France, a woman recognised him from Coke Studio. “So even if we have a difference of opinion on the creativity of these branded programmes, we have to accept their importance for music in Pakistan.” He too said there was a lack of record labels in Pakistan.

The primary objective for these brands is to promote their sales, not music. So in order to promote music, there is a dire need for TV channels to give it sufficient airtime. Composer and singer Shiraz Uppal, who has worked in Pakistan and for Bollywood, believed that having more platforms is good for music. He said that whenever a company established a platform for music, it took the responsibility for promoting it, which ultimately benefits the artists as well. Uppal emphasised the need for promoting new talent. He said that Coke Studio had provided opportunities to many new singers but it was also important to produce new music rather than going over the same songs in every other programme.

Uppal disagreed with the critics holding that the music industry was not promoting the traditional music in these programmes. He said that music evolved over time like everything else. “These days no one can sing with a single instrument the way Tan Sen could.” Uppal agreed that brands were more interested in sales than in the music but argued that it was still up to the audience to decide whether they liked it or not. He also mentioned the need for having industry standards for songs to be aired in these programmes.

Music director Shani Arshad said that the big brands provided opportunities for producers and musicians to work and promote their songs, without any cost to them. According to Arshad, “brands prefer the already-established singers and celebrities as sales these days depends on search engine algorithms, which do not favour brands featuring new singers.” He added that in 13 years of Coke Studio, a lot of folk music had been introduced to the audience, including qawwali. On the other hand, many platforms, like Velo Sound Station, are dedicated to pop music.

The writer is a journalist