MUMBAI: Sony Music Entertainment, the global music giant, has been a part of this artistic format since its inception and is now all geared up to release the songs of the much anticipated 3rd season of Coke Studio@MTV. The show begins Saturday 17th August  from 8pm on MTV and consists of eight episodes each of which will be produced by different producers and have a different soundscape across each episode. This season, features some of the best and renowned names from the industry such as Grammy Award winner A R Rahman, Amit Trivedi, Ram Sampath, Salim-Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo,  Hitesh Sonik and Papon.

Commenting on the association with Coke Studio@MTV, Sony Music Entertainment India & Middle East president Shridhar Subramaniam said, “We have always believed in this property and the new music that gets created has a huge fan following across core music lovers.  This year too, the lineup is outstanding with 7 leading composers curating 47 original compositions with over 100 musicians. Last year, we sold 15000 CD’s  and over 10 million downloads in the first 6 months. This time too we will release the music on the day of each episode so that fans all over the world get instant access to great music. We at Sony Music are extremely confident that this collaborative effort will have an instant connect with the audiences.”

MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy adds on, "Coke Studio at MTV has become the definitive indi music platform in the country. With 70 MM viewers on MTV, 20 MM+ web video views and over 2 MM fans on the Facebook community, this is a reflection of the growing audience for this genre of music, not just in India but globally. This year, we continue to celebrate diversity by pushing the boundaries on collaborations and compositions which will only expand this exciting soundscape. In Sony Music we have a partner who shares our belief and I am confident that with their massive distribution capabilities, the music will reach out to many more people this year”

The show will keep the core idea of a fusion music project intact and will combine genres like independent, classical, folk and popular in a live performance. It will present audiences with original compositions in raw & pure renditions by talent from across the country.

The new season will also witness the winner of the Leap Frog to Coke Studio@MTV, the six young artists who will produce one song each in the eighth multi producer episode.

With compositions specially created by producers like A R Rahman, the Amit Trivedi, Ram Sampath, Salim-Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo and Hitesh Sonik, and Papon, the musical diversity will be through 47 original songs, composed by 7 producers and over 100 musicians.

Some of the renowned and independent singers who will feature in the show include Kailash Kher, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Hans Raj Hans, Bhanvari Devi, Siddharth Basrur, Karsan Sagathia, Ustad Rashid Khan, Aruna Sairam, Sona Mohapatra & Vijay Prakash.