We arranged a traditional mbira song for marimba ourselves, are there any royalties involved?
Again, no, not unless another band re-records it. But be sure that your arrangement is based directly on the mbira parts, and not on someone else’s marimba arrangement. Also, modern mbira players do compose new songs, make sure that the song is truly “traditional” (i.e. anonymous or public domain). Also, did your band sing any lyrics in your recording? Even if the song is traditional, the lyrics may be of recent origin, in which case you would owe full royalties to the lyricist.
