Music Production Technology in New Nollywood Soundtracks: Context, Application, and the Effect of Globalization

Abstract:New Nollywood refers to a segment of Nigerian cinema that began in 2012. The industry is based in Lagos and focuses on Hollywood-style approaches to film and film music. Generally, very little has been written about technologies in the film music of Nigerian cinema. This article is the first to focus explicitly on the impact of modern music production technology in New Nollywood soundtracks. Adopting descriptive as well as survey and historical methods of research, this article reveals what the specific and available technologies for film music in New Nollywood were and currently are; how the practitioners have employed them; as well as how the effects of such technologies have shaped the industry’s cultural and economics choices. In addition to a review of the broad literature on cinema and film music, the methodology also relies on studio observation sessions with current industry practitioners as well as an analysis of the New Nollywood film The Bling Lagosians (2019). Taken together, findings reveal that the quality of New Nollywood film music is fluid and reflective of changes to the economic, cultural, and technological preferences of practitioners.