RESEARCH/ PROJECT 2.1

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND FORMAL INNOVATION IN THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY

The sub-project deals with Nigerian pop music — also known as Afrobeats. We investigate how digital transformation affects the continuous development of the expansive music scene.

We argue that cultural entrepreneurs use digital technologies and media to develop new trends from a constantly growing pool of resources. We seek to learn more about how they use them and how the use of media, technologies, and their artistic practices and products change in that process. What strategies do entrepreneurs pursue to achieve a style that is distinctive and yet compatible, and to achieve success in local as well as supra-regional markets? And how does digitization affect how they deal with crises, such as the current pandemic?

RESEARCH METHODS

The project is based on a combination of digital ethnography and on-site ethnographic fieldwork in Lagos, Nigeria. We examine the interactions of musicians, content creators, and other actors on social media—particularly Instagram and TikTok. The analysis of music and other digital artifacts, such as videos or Insta-stories, will provide answers to the question of how innovation takes place in the form and content of artistic products. The research trip to Lagos is intended to evaluate the previously collected data dialogically and ensure an actor-centred perspective.

ACTIVITIES

Workshop “Orality and Cinema in Kenya”

On 5-7 September 2022, the Workshop “Orality and Cinema in Kenya: the Practice of Film DJs and Audiences” took place in Naivasha, Kenya, as part of the Thyssen-project of CEDITRAA member Matthias Krings, with Claudia Böhme (Uni Trier) and Solomon Waliaula (JGU) as co-conveners...

PROJECT TEAM