According to the chief creative officer of Patari, the initial plan was to create an online Pakistani drama serial portal. However, when this did not succeed, the Jang Group’s Chief Strategy Officer Faisal Sherjan, encouraged Patari's founders to focus on music instead. Bajwa said: “Our initial plan was to create an online portal for Pakistani television serials. It was only after we met with a senior media executive who encouraged us to look at music instead that we changed our original idea.”
Launch
Patari was launched in February 2015 in beta version with a collection of 20,000 songs and 600 artists and was accessible only through invites and later by registration, which led to an increase in access across Pakistan. “We honestly just kept our heads down and kept working on it. Just another day in the life of a start-up we thought, and the next thing we knew, it was everywhere. People were sharing screenshots, making memes, trading tips on how to get invites and reaching out to us to tell us how much they love Pakistani music and Patari” said Khalid Bajwa. Patari was opened to public browsing on 4 September 2015.
Patari Haftanama is a Pakistani top 20 singles chart that is presented every Thursday at Patari.pk.
Legal issues
In June 2015, EMI Pakistan requested Patari to remove all its content from the website as it held the licenses for over 60,000 Pakistani artists and controlled almost 70% of the total music of Pakistan. Zeeshan Chaudhry, General Manager of EMI Pakistan said: “I am not against Patari. I am against any portal or platform that provides illegal music.” Patari and EMI have since resolved their differences and signed an agreement that places EMI on the Patari platform.
Patari CEO Khalid Bajwa was accused of alleged sexual harassment by three members of the public. In response to this, Patari issued a statement, saying "In light of recent developments, Patari's CEO Khalid Bajwa will be stepping down from his post with immediate effect. An investigation had already been underway about prior allegations." Khalid Bajwa stepped down from his post on 12 April 2018 and deactivated his Twitter account. The company issued the statement later that Bajwa would not remain a part of the company, and stated that similar investigations were being carried out against him by the company before the public accusations.
