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Coke Studio, once touted as Pakistan’s biggest cultural export, is facing a dilemma. At a time when major brands and corporations around the world are facing calls for boycott for being even tangentially linked to Israel, the music platform hasn’t addressed the complex geopolitics it finds itself at the centre of. And that’s affected how people view it.

Coca Cola has been facing calls for a boycott even before October 7, but ever since Israel began its military offensive in Gaza, those calls have grown far louder. And they ring resolutely in Pakistan, where local brands have seen unprecedented support in the face of pro-Palestine boycotts. That Coca Cola is not actually on the official Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions list is immaterial as the strong sentiments surrounding the boycott in Pakistan have led to widespread calls to shun almost all foreign-linked products.

But Coke Studio is a brand in itself, one that has always been believed to be inherently Pakistani. It has launched the careers of many young artists and propelled some to global fame. ‘Pasoori’ — the Ali Sethi-Shae Gill mega-hit — was dubbed a tune that united India and Pakistan. Research papers have commended Coke Studio’s role in promoting “cultural diplomacy” and “trans-culturalism”. The platform has contributed to Pakistan’s music industry in ways that platforms before and after it have failed. It is, to put it plainly, a phenomenon.

But fans of both the platform and the artists who’ve contributed to it are now grappling with a new challenge — whether or not to listen to the songs produced by their favourite platform.

Coke Studio 15 — to stream or not to stream?

Coke Studio 15 released on April 14 with ‘Aayi Aayi’ after a delay of about six months without any promotions, marketing gimmicks or explanations for its overdue return. Sources told Images that the show had to return sooner or later because of payment delays for the many, many Pakistanis who had worked tirelessly on the season well before October 7.

The season’s producer, Xulfi, shared a video announcing its return on Instagram without addressing the reasons for the delay.

“Two years since ‘Phir Milenge’, the promise that we made to you, the promise that we closed Coke Studio Season 14 with. Today, with hope, love, humility and gratitude in our hearts, we begin another journey with you, for you,” he captioned his post.

Three songs have since been released and others are on the way, featuring both new and established artists. The platform has not, however, issued a statement or addressed the circumstances leading to its rather muted reception this year. Images also reached out to Coke Studio for a comment two weeks prior to the publishing of this article and is still awaiting a response. As Nadeem Farooq Paracha writes for Aurora, brands facing boycotts cannot pretend it’s not happening and instead must connect with their audiences in a more meaningful manner.

Sources confirmed to Images that the show was in its post-production stage when the October 7 attacks happened, meaning that artists had already signed contracts, recorded their songs and no longer had the option to disassociate from the label.

There is also the element of monetary support that Pakistani artists, and the Pakistani music industry at large, has gotten from Coke Studio over the years. The project, initiated by Rohail Hyatt back in 2008, was begun with the intention to reimagine and promote Pakistani music, as opposed to selling Coca-Cola.

A recent change to Coke Studio’s payment policy has allowed for artists to receive royalties as well as lump-sum fees, according to someone with insider knowledge of the process. Those royalties are divided between the multiple people who worked on the song — the singers, writers, producers and other stakeholders. The structure is informal and often decided case by case, but it is understood that artists have the power to negotiate their contracts.

The lump sum varies based on the artist, but, generally, it is a reasonable enough amount.

That means the artists benefit both monetarily from when a song’s popularity soars and from the publicity. The introduction of royalties is a newer addition to the policy — brought on by Xulfi — but even before this change, Pakistan has seen several artists’ popularity soar after a hit song on Coke Studio, which puts them on the path for more shows and tours.

And it’s not just the artists who benefit from the exposure — Coke gets more than sufficient mileage from the virality of the music too.

Coke Studio itself has not disclosed its profit-sharing policies and artist fees are not public knowledge.

Therein lies the problem

But while Coke Studio has done a lot for the Pakistani music industry, it still bears the brunt of the boycott this season and there is a conflict in the hearts of Pakistani fans of the music platform. Do they continue boycotting the platform for its ties with Coke or do they celebrate the Pakistanis behind Coke Studio and leave Coke out of it?

Many argue — albeit quietly — that Coke Studio and the many Pakistanis behind it shouldn’t suffer the consequences of a global boycott when it is inherently a Pakistani entity. The producers, singers, technicians, writers, mixers and everyone else involved are Pakistani.

Is the celebration of Coke Studio not a celebration of Pakistani music, they argue, or is it a celebration of Coca Cola, which, on the surface, doesn’t seem to have much to do with the music at Coke Studio.

The other side is conflicted and grappling with the idea of supporting a brand that is subject to a global boycott even if it means disregarding the work of local artists.

That the brand is being boycotted in solidarity with Palestine should be enough of a reason to boycott the platform, they reason, regardless of who worked on the songs. The other brands being boycotted in Pakistan also employ Pakistanis, after all. What’s so different about Coke Studio?

Coca Cola is, at the end of the day, a corporation that wants to make a profit. By patronising Coke Studio, consumers are inadvertently helping the brand meet its bottom line — which is something that those boycotting brands in support of Palestine don’t want to do.

Pakistanis now face a troubling moral dilemma — whether to continue their boycott or support a platform that has, since its inception, been labelled Pakistani. Can you separate the brand from the many Pakistanis who have worked and continue to work on it?

So the argument remains, can you take the Coke out of Coke Studio?