Gender, Power, and Creative Agency: A Longitudinal Study of Female Artists in the Nigerian Popular Music Industry

This research conducts a longitudinal qualitative investigation of gender dynamics, power structures, and creative agency experienced by female artists in the Nigerian popular music industry over a five-year period from 2020 to 2025. Despite the commercial achievements of individual female artists, the Nigerian music industry remains characterised by structural gender inequities including differential access to recording infrastructure, unequal exposure to sexual exploitation and harassment, gatekeeping by predominantly male industry executives, and asymmetrical critical and public reception of female versus male artists' work. This study follows a purposive longitudinal sample of 30 professional female artists across Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu through repeated in-depth interviews, creative process observations, and career trajectory analysis at two-year intervals. Complementary data are gathered from 15 female music industry professionals including managers, producers, and label executives. A feminist longitudinal qualitative methodology is employed, treating participants as expert informants on their own experiences. The analytical framework integrates feminist political economy of culture, agency theory, and African feminist thought. Longitudinal design enables examination of change over time in participants' agency, career strategies, and encounters with gendered power. Findings will produce an original, longitudinal account of gendered experience in Nigerian popular music, informing industry ethics reform, advocacy, and policy. Keywords: Gender equity, female artists, Nigerian music industry, creative agency, longitudinal study.