Dr. Tom Simmert
Postdoctoral Researcher,
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Tom Simmert is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His research focuses on popular music, popular culture, and digital media in Nigeria and South Africa. Central to his work is the study of African popular music and its global dissemination, particularly Afrobeats (Nigeria) and Amapiano (South Africa).
Tom Simmert primarily contributes to the work in Working Area A: Forms, Formats and Contents, in Working Area B: Legal and Institutional Frameworks, in Project 1.2 on Archival Access and Artistic Creation: Nigerian Film Heritage in the Novelty Spiral and in Project 2.1. on Digital Transformation and Formal Innovation in the Nigerian Music Industry.
My CEDITRAA story
“CEDITRAA gives me the opportunity to continue and expand my research on Afrobeats and other genres of African popular music. Initially, my work primarily focused on perspectives from within the music industry—artists, producers, and management and how they respond the the practices of content creators. In the current, second phase of this project, my research shifts toward the perspectives of the creators themselves, particularly Afro-dance creators on short-video platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These platforms have become central to cultural entrepreneurship and distribution, significantly shaping global interactions between artists and audiences. My work now investigates how Afro-dance content creators contribute creatively to the global popularity of African music while simultaneously opening up new business opportunities for themselves.”
