J 396 Assignment: International Communication (Fall 2017)

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Music in Nigeria and India
The media industry of any country is relevant in uncovering education or facts, promoting and disseminating information within the country and other parts of the globe linked to the country. Particularly, music is an essential media industry which helps to convey necessary information and entertain its audience. Each country has music that is unique given its environment and happenings within the community. However, music in different countries can also be similar due to aspects such as influences from similar parts of the globe and similarities in music performances. For instance; music in Nigeria and that in India portrays similarities as well as differences despite the two countries belonging to different continents. This paper provides a comparison between similarities and differences in Nigerian and Indian music and an ultimate analysis of factors involved.
There is little knowledge regarding music in Nigeria prior to European contact whereas there exists more knowledge relating to music in India. Research indicates that the availability of more information regarding music in Nigeria began after 1920. As such, there are only few bronze carvings dating to the 16th century which indicates the existence of musicians and the instruments that may have been used (Okafor, 17). On the other hand, India portrays a rich music culture even before 1920. This is evidenced by the recovery of musical instruments such as the seven-holed flute in Indian archaeological sites. Moreover, the survival of written works from the Indian classical period and the existence of liturgical music prove this. This difference in availability of historical music information could be as a result of differences in record keeping. Evidently, the extensive details regarding music industry in India may have been well preserved for the current and future generations. Contrary, Nigeria may have had fewer alternatives of preserving their music culture given the scarcity of relevant information available. In recent times, the music information regarding both countries is adequately available in sources such as books. This music is also made available to people globally through media channels such as television, social media, and radios.
Both countries have traditional and modern music. The modern music in both is influenced by other regions particularly the Western world. Nigeria’s earliest styles of popular music were highlife, apala, and palm-wine music. This kind of music was influenced by the Nigerian society and its environs such as Ghana and Liberia. Since the 1960’s, more music has been incorporated into the existing genres. For instance; Juju music, Nigeria reggae, and Yo-pop styles were incorporated by the 1980’s. Also, Nigerian music, popularly known as Naija music, has largely influenced the development of music in West Africa. This is one of the reasons why the country is regarded as “the heart of African music”. On the other hand, India’s music is also influenced by the society and the family systems. The country holds an 8-week musical festival in December, which is the largest one in the world (Shope, et al. 9). T...