A platform that wants to do Arabic music well needs someone in the region who answers quickly, clears rights properly and knows why a song matters where it comes from. Mazufa's platform desk is that partner: one address for rights, editorial, lyrics and seasonal programming across the Gulf and the Arab world. This page sets out what the desk does, how an engagement starts and what we will not do.
What the desk does
The desk is a named person on our side, working with a named person on yours, across six kinds of work.
- Rights clearance for campaigns: master and publishing confirmed in writing for each recording before it goes into a campaign, an advert or an original programme
- Editorial playlists with cultural notes: sequenced lists with a short note per track on the dialect, the occasion and the artist, written for an editor who may not read Arabic
- Arabic-dialect lyrics with translation: Gulf, Levantine, Egyptian, Iraqi and Maghrebi lyrics transcribed as sung, with an English translation and notes on idiom
- Eid and national-day programming prepared in advance: lists, artwork text and release lead times for each Gulf state's national day and for both Eids, ready before the editor needs them
- Local artist access: introductions to independent artists in the catalogue for interviews, live sessions and platform events, with the artist's agreement
- Arabic-language support for the platform's local team, in Arabic and English, by email
Rights clearance you can file
Every clearance comes as a written record: the recording by ISRC, the master owner, the writers and publisher where known, the use cleared, the territory and the term. Where a recording is not fully documented we say so rather than clear it, and we tell you what is missing. The record is yours to keep with the campaign.
For heritage repertoire, where authorship is often disputed or unknown, we note what is documented and what is not, so your legal team can make its own decision.
Editorial that explains itself
An Arabic playlist is more useful to a platform when the editor knows why each track is there. Our lists come with a one-line note per track and a short introduction: the occasion, the region, the mood and the names in one fixed spelling. Lyrics are transcribed in the dialect as sung, not normalised into standard Arabic, and translated with notes where a phrase does not travel.
Seasonal programming is prepared in advance. For each Gulf national day and for both Eids we deliver a list, the cultural notes and the release lead times that fit the stores' timetables, so the platform's local team is not building it at the last minute.
How an engagement starts
An engagement starts with the form on this page, where you tell us the first thing you need: a clearance, a list, a lyrics set or a seasonal calendar. A person replies by email with questions and a short proposal of scope. The terms, the scope and the point of contact on each side are then set out in writing before any work starts.
- One named person on each side
- Scope agreed in writing and extended by written addition only
- Deliveries recorded with the date and the version
- Either side may end the engagement under the terms in the written agreement
What the desk does not do
The desk does not sell placement. We do not take money to put a track in a list, and we do not accept it from artists either. We do not run artificial promotion of any kind: no bought streams, no follower schemes, no inflated engagement. We do not clear a recording we cannot document, and we do not speak for artists who have not agreed to be introduced.
Mazufa is an independent distributor. Where a request concerns a recording outside our catalogue we say so and, where we can, point you to the right owner.
Questions
Does the desk work only with Mazufa's catalogue?
Rights clearance and artist access cover the Mazufa catalogue, where we hold the documents. Editorial lists, cultural notes and lyrics work can cover any Arabic repertoire, with the sources noted.
Which dialects can you transcribe?
Gulf dialects first, including Kuwaiti, Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini, Qatari and Omani, then Levantine, Egyptian, Iraqi and Maghrebi through our network of transcribers. We tell you in advance where a dialect needs an outside specialist.
Can the platform's local team write to you in Arabic?
Yes. The named person on our side answers in Arabic and English, and the written records can be delivered in either language or both.