About Fair Play
Why We Started
Fair Play emerged from a recognition that the electronic music industry needed an independent voice to document, analyse, and improve how royalties flow to creators. Building on pioneering work by initiatives like Aslice, the revenue-sharing software platform for DJs and producers, we formed in 2024 to create a comprehensive, neutral assessment of the global royalty landscape.
Why This Research Matters Now:
Industry at a Crossroads
Record Growth
$11.8B industry with 17% growth in 2023—yet creators aren't seeing their fair share
Tech Revolution
Critical moment to assess the effectiveness and coverage of new recognition technologies being deployed
Artist Uprising
Creators demanding answers about compensation disparities
Shifting Systems
Collection societies changing models—the perfect moment to influence outcomes
Our Guiding Principles
Independence
$11.8B industry with 17% growth in 2023—yet creators aren't seeing their fair share
Transparency
Open reporting of findings and methodologies
Collaboration
Seeking input whilst maintaining objectivity
Solution-Agnostic
Highlighting approaches without bias
Artist-Centric
Improving outcomes for creators at all career stages
Our Approach
Fair Play examines three critical pillars
Submission:
How performance data reaches rights organisations
Recognition:
How technology identifies what was played
Collection & Distribution:
How royalties reach creators and on what timeline
The Road Ahead
Meet the Team
Core Team
Zak Khutoretsky
aka dvs1
Advisor
Ethan Holben
Program Lead
David Boyle
Research
Darko Esser
Program Advocate
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Sebastian Weiß
Communications Lead
Rufy Ghazi
Research & Project Manager
Advisory Board
Jane Slingo
Director, Asia Pacific, VibeLab
Jaymie Silk
Producer & DJ
Oliver Way
Head of Rights Management, EPM Music
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Silvia Montello
Voicebox Consulting
Finlay Johnson
CEO, Association For Electronic Music (AFEM)
Sam Barker
Producer & DJ, Record Label owner
Contributors/Supporters
Mark Lawrence
Global Head, b:electronic publishing, Believe Music
Jules O'Riordan
aka Judge Jules
DJ & Entertainment Lawyer
Yuri Dokter
Founder and CEO, DJ Monitor
Kristian Rädle of Âme
Producer & DJ, Record Label owner
Frank Wiedemann of Âme
Producer & DJ, Record Label owner
Steve Robbins
CTO, Audoo
Albert Gruber
Co-founder, seeqnc GmbH
Jay Ahern
Chief Strategic Officer, Association For Electronic Music (AFEM)
Mark Lawrence
Global Head, b:electronic publishing, Believe Music
Industry at a Crossroads
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Fair Play focuses exclusively on research, documentation, and education. We don't operate a payment platform or collection system. Instead, we provide independent analysis that can inform stakeholders and support positive change across existing systems.
The UK represents one of the world's most significant electronic music markets with a well-established collection society, venue network, and technology deployment. It provides an excellent baseline for our research methodology that we can expand to other territories in future reports.
The report will be available in November 2025. You can register now on our Report page to receive access as soon as it's released. Both the comprehensive report and a condensed executive summary will be available.
Fair Play is a grassroots initiative funded through individual contributions and the voluntary time of our team members. We maintain strict independence from any entities we research to ensure unbiased reporting.
Yes! If you're involved in the electronic music industry as an artist, venue, technology provider, or collection society, we welcome your insights. Please contact us through our Contact page to discuss how you might contribute to our research.
You can support our work through financial contributions on our Support page, by sharing our research when published, by participating in our interviews and surveys, or by connecting us with relevant stakeholders in the industry.
Yes, our long-term vision includes expanding our research to cover territories such as Germany, the Netherlands, the US, Australia, and others. The timing of this expansion depends on securing appropriate funding and resources.
Our aim is to publish multiple reports each year that track progress and changes in the industry over time. The UK report represents our inaugural publication, with plans to expand our research in subsequent years.
No. Fair Play maintains complete independence from all companies, collection societies, and technology providers that we research. This ensures we can provide unbiased analysis and recommendations.
We take a multi-source approach to data collection. We're working directly with PROs and music recognition technology companies to obtain official data. Additionally, we also conduct our own industry surveys with respondents from across the electronic music ecosystem. This combination of official statistics, technology provider data, and first-hand industry insights ensures our findings reflect the true state of the royalty landscape.