Fairplay: Year of Transformation 2024 📀 + Updates!

Our year of transformation, one step at a time.

Mar 07, 2025

Hi, Ravdeep here. 👋

Perfunktory is a newsletter that aims to break down trending subjects in the field of Music, Technology, Gaming and Culture as perfunctorily as possible. Keeping it perfunctory helps the discourse to be as candid as it can be.

It’s been another amazing year in the life of Fairplay, the project I’ve dedicated the most time to over the past few years. It has been a challenging journey, but I remain determined to help musicians earn more, receive fair compensation, and access opportunities that have traditionally been reserved for the top 1%.

On another note, I recently started posting video content on LinkedIn and will be sharing to Instagram very soon. I’m attaching an example below so you can take a look at what’s keeping me engaged at the start of this year.

I also wanted to build a community that’s less resource and time-intensive than a full newsletter, which led to the creation of The Tastemaker’s Club:

It is a community for the curious, the culture-obsessed, and the ones who love being ahead of the curve. We cover everything from music, tech, and media to business, internet culture, and the future of creativity. Whether it's dissecting the latest trends, breaking down big ideas, or debating the absurdities of the digital age, this is where sharp insights meet engaging conversation. If you thrive on discovering what’s next, you’re in the right place.

In short, it’s Perfunktory lite!

Join here: WhatsApp Community

I’m not going to comment on when Perfunktory will be back full-time because I’d rather make it happen than just talk about it. Now, please enjoy this update from Fairplay, and I’ll see you all very soon!

As we step into 2025, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey we’ve had over the past year, a year as challenging as it was rewarding. First, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this possible: our stakeholders, our lean but mean team, our supporters who believe in our mission, and most importantly, the artists who inspire us daily to push boundaries.

Let’s dive into where we stand today and where we’re heading, as I believe this reflection is critical in navigating the ever-evolving music industry. For folks who want a summary of the entire post, I have included that here with the detailed post below:

Fairplay 2024: Key Highlights 📝

1. Catalogue Growth 🚀

Expanded to over 3,000 tracks from 700+ artists, showcasing diversity across Indian regional languages like Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu.
Welcomed international catalogues featuring some of the industry's biggest names.

2. New Offerings 📈

Fairplay’s Finest: Pilot project with Anurag Mishra resulted in 5M+ organic streams and a video surpassing 500K views, achieved without ads.
Composition Services: Secured high-profile briefs, added 10+ composers, and partnered with top studios to offer competitive mixing and mastering services.

3. Publishing Foundations 💿

Established a publishing framework to support publishers and onboard new artists.

4. Breaking New Ground 🎬

Collaborated with leading OTT production houses and made inroads into the FMCG sector, partnering with a major brand to innovate music and branding strategies.

5. Financial Growth 💵

Achieved double-digit revenue growth while remaining bootstrapped.

6. Innovation 🔥

Aiming to leverage AI technology to streamline licensing processes, enabling faster track discovery and efficient artist payments, without compromising human creativity.

7. Vision for 2025 🎥

Continued deliberate catalogue growth, expansion of Fairplay’s Finest, and focus on underrepresented genres and moods.
Doubling down on publishing partnerships and bespoke offerings.
Strategic investments in technology to align infrastructure with new opportunities.

You can watch a video update of the same here.

State of the Industry: A Year of Disruption 🔥

Compared to 2024, 2023 was a challenging year for content budgets, directly impacting music licensing and production. However, it allowed us to strengthen our platform and refine our offerings based on invaluable customer feedback. Being bootstrapped means every decision we make is intentional and strategic, particularly in tech investments. With budgets returning to baseline in 2024, we received briefs worth a staggering dollar amount (I'm really not going to mention the number), a testament to the growing confidence in Fairplay.

On a broader scale, the music industry is in a state of disruption. Streaming revenues for artists continue to face challenges, and AI looms as both a threat and an opportunity. Personally, I believe this disruption only highlights the importance of real artists. Fans don’t want AI-generated music that lacks emotion and authenticity, they want connection, and that’s where human artistry thrives.

The rise of "superfans" and Direct-to-Fan models was a buzzword for the industry last year. While these concepts have immense potential, the Indian market remains in its infancy for such models. Convincing consumers to spend even modest amounts on music-related services continues to be an uphill battle.

Fairplay: The Year of Transformation 📀

Building on the foundation of perseverance we laid in 2023, this year was about scaling with intent, refining our processes, and delivering meaningful results.

Key Highlights

1. Catalogue Growth 🚀
Our catalogue now includes over 3,000 tracks from 700+ artists, ranging from established icons to fresh independent voices. We’ve put special emphasis on regional diversity, with tracks in Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, and more. On the international front, we’re thrilled to have partnered with some of the biggest names in the global music scene, and we can’t wait to share more about this in the months to come.

2. New Offerings: Fairplay's Finest and Composition Services 📈

Fairplay’s Finest: We ran a pilot project with Anurag Mishra, an artist who exemplifies the power of focusing on his craft and iterating it to reflect different phases of his life. The result? Over 5 million organic streams across Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music, with one of his videos surpassing 500,000 views, all achieved without a single rupee spent on ads. This experience has given us a blueprint to expand this offering to more artists in 2025.
Composition Services: We secured several high-profile projects with leading OTT production houses. Our composer network now includes 10+ stellar names, such as Anand Bhaskar, Hrishi Giridhar, Tarana Marwah, OaffxSavera, Salim-Sulaiman and more. Additionally, we have partnered with leading studios in India to offer competitive rates on mixing, mastering, and other services, all open to our artist and client network.

3. Publishing Foundations 💿
Last year, we also laid the groundwork for a robust publishing framework, focusing on creating an ecosystem supporting other publishers and signing new artists. This marks an exciting expansion into a space that allows us to directly empower creators and amplify their work. More on this very soon!

4. Breaking New Ground 🎬
We started working with some of the biggest production houses to deliver exceptional work for OTT platforms. We also made inroads into the FMCG sector, collaborating with one of the largest brands in the space. This partnership has the potential to be a landmark moment in music and branding, and we’re excited to see where it leads.

5. Financial Growth 💵
While we can’t share all the details, 2024 was a year of strong operational growth. Revenue growth percentages were well into double digits, driven by our expanding catalogue and increased demand.

We take immense pride in being a bootstrapped company. What once felt like an uphill battle has proven to be our greatest strength, giving us complete control over our vision and operations. This independence has allowed us to make thoughtful, long-term decisions, and we are now reaping the rewards of that perseverance.

Innovation and the FUTURE 🔥

Fairplay is committed to staying ahead of the curve in the licensing space. This year, we made significant strides in understanding how AI can be leveraged, not as a replacement for human creativity, but as a tool to expand opportunities for artists and stakeholders alike. This in no way means that we are thinking of AI-generated music, you know my thoughts on that already. This is more to do with using AI to streamline the licensing process, helping our customers find the right track faster while ensuring our artists get paid more and paid efficiently.

Looking Ahead to 2025 🎥

2024 laid the groundwork, but 2025 is all about building on that foundation with renewed focus and energy. We now know exactly what needs to be done and are doubling down on those efforts. Work starts from day one, with a plethora of projects already in the pipeline.

Our catalogue will continue to grow, but with a deliberate approach, onboarding genres and moods that are currently underrepresented. This year, we’re committed to expanding with precision, bringing Fairplay’s Finest to more artists, extending publishing partnerships, and pursuing a few special projects that I deeply believe in. Our bespoke line will also see significant growth, ensuring even greater value and opportunities for creators and stakeholders alike. Technology is another critical focus area, as we revisit and refine our infrastructure to align with the new opportunities that we are building for yourselves and our artists.

Here’s to another year of meaningful work and brilliant achievements! 🥂

- Ravdeep Anand