The Ecology of Music Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Mapping the Creative Economy Ecosystem Across Geopolitical Zones

This research maps the ecology of music entrepreneurship across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, developing an original theoretical model of the Nigerian music creative economy ecosystem that accounts for regional variation in infrastructure, culture, institutions, and market conditions. Existing creative economy research on Nigeria has disproportionately focused on Lagos and the Afrobeats phenomenon, leaving vast regional music economies in the North East, North West, North Central, South East, and South South zones undertheorised and empirically underexplored. This study employs a mixed-methods ecological systems design, conducting regional creative economy surveys with 60 music entrepreneurs per zone, in-depth interviews with 10 key informants per zone, and ecosystem mapping workshops with regional stakeholders. Data collection instruments are adapted for each zone's cultural and economic context. Ecological systems theory, creative economy frameworks, and African entrepreneurship literature inform the theoretical architecture. Quantitative survey data are analysed using structural equation modelling to identify ecosystem factor relationships. Qualitative data are subjected to comparative cross-regional thematic analysis. Findings will produce the most geographically comprehensive empirical mapping of Nigeria's music entrepreneurship ecosystem to date, identifying zone-specific barriers and enablers and generating a differentiated national music economy development policy framework. Keywords: Music entrepreneurship, creative economy, Nigeria, ecosystem mapping, regional development.