Across the Gulf, thousands of samra and tarab sessions recorded between the 1960s and the 2000s survive on tape, in family cupboards and in broadcasters' archives. The Gulf Heritage Vault is a licensed, documented digital archive that keeps these recordings restored and credited, and pays the people who hold their rights. This page explains what the vault keeps, who can contribute, and how a recording enters.
What the vault keeps
The vault is not a pile of files. Each recording is held with three things: the restored audio, a documented chain of rights, and context notes written with the people who know the session best.
- Restored audio: the original transfer from tape or disc kept untouched, plus a cleaned master suitable for stores and broadcast
- A documented chain of rights per recording: who performed, who recorded, who holds the rights today, and the written agreement that lets Mazufa distribute it
- Context notes: the place and approximate year of the session, the performers and instruments, the maqam or poem where known, in Arabic and English
- One fixed Arabic spelling and one Latin transliteration for every performer, so credits match across stores
Who can contribute
Recordings reach the vault from four kinds of contributors. Each is treated the same way: a conversation first, then documents, then a written agreement.
A contributor does not need to know the legal vocabulary. We ask questions in plain language, in Arabic or English, and write down the answers together.
- Heirs of performers and session hosts who hold the family's tapes and the rights that came with them
- Private collectors who recorded or acquired sessions and can show how they came to hold them
- Radio and television archives with session recordings in their vaults
- Institutions such as cultural bodies, universities and libraries that keep heritage collections
How a recording enters the vault
Every recording follows the same path. No step is skipped because a session is famous or a contributor is in a hurry.
There is no upload fee, no subscription, no per-release fee; the revenue share is set out in your written agreement.
- Intake: you tell us what you hold, in what format, and roughly how many recordings there are
- Provenance review: we trace who recorded the session, who performed and who holds the rights today, and we write down what we found and what remains open
- Written agreement: exclusive or non-exclusive, at your choice, with the revenue share, the reports and the removal terms set out before anything is published
- Restoration: transfer from the original medium, cleaning and mastering, with the untouched transfer kept alongside
- Distribution with a per-recording rights record, so every store and every claim traces back to the agreement that allows it
What contributors get
The vault exists so that the people who kept these recordings alive are recognised and paid, and stay in control.
- Reports in your language, showing where each recording was heard and what it earned
- Control over how a recording is used: no remix, sample or advertising use without your written yes
- Removal on request: a recording leaves the stores when you ask, and the record of why is kept with the file
- Credits in the form the family or the institution approves, including the names of performers who have passed
- A single named contact who knows your collection and answers by email
What the vault refuses
A heritage archive is only as trustworthy as its weakest file. The vault refuses any recording whose provenance is disputed: where two parties claim the same session and the documents do not settle it, where a tape was copied from a broadcast without the broadcaster's agreement, or where the contributor cannot say how the recording came to them.
Refusal is not a judgement on the music. It means the chain of rights is not yet documented. If the dispute is later settled in writing, the recording can be submitted again.
Questions
The tapes are in poor condition. Can they still enter the vault?
Often, yes. Restoration starts with a careful transfer from the original medium, and the untouched transfer is kept whatever the result. The chain of rights comes first; the tape's condition decides how much restoration is needed, not whether the recording qualifies.
Can a family keep the recordings non-exclusive?
Yes. The agreement can be non-exclusive, which leaves the family free to license the recordings elsewhere, or exclusive, which gives Mazufa the sole right to distribute them. The choice is the contributor's, and it is written into the agreement.
What happens if the contributor changes their mind?
You ask for removal, and the recording is taken down from the stores. The rights record stays in the file so the history of the recording remains traceable, and the reports for the period it was live are still sent to you.