https://utafitionline.com/index.php/jmae/issue/feed 2025-07-08T16:57:05+00:00 Mellitus N. Wanyama wanyamam@yahoo.com Open Journal Systems <div class="woocommerce-product-details__short-description"> <p>This maiden issue of the PAN African Journal of Musical Arts Education (ISSN 2312 – 6655 Print) (SSN:2958-8804, Online) marks the beginning of a high-quality and open-access peer-reviewed research journal that is published by The Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education (PASMAE). PAN African Journal of Musical Arts Education provides a platform for researchers, academicians, professionals, practitioners, and students to share knowledge in form of high-quality research papers, case studies, and literature reviews. The PAN African Journal of Musical Arts Education welcomes and acknowledges high-quality theoretical and empirical original research papers, case studies, review papers, literature reviews, book reviews, conceptual frameworks, analytical and simulation models, technical notes from researchers, academicians, professionals, practitioners, and students.</p> </div> <div class="somdn-download-wrap"> </div> https://utafitionline.com/index.php/jmae/article/view/1133 2025-07-08T16:57:05+00:00 Brian Bichanga Nyandieka bnyandieka@kabarak.ac.ke

<p>This study examines the interplay between cultural capital and market dynamics in Kenya’s contemporary music production industry, interrogating how digital platforms, genre hybridisation, and shifting audience preferences reshape the valuation and operationalisation of cultural capital. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of cultural capital, the research employs a qualitative phenomenological approach, incorporating interviews with industry stakeholders, content analysis, and document review to explore tensions between cultural authenticity and commercial viability. Findings reveal that digital platforms like Boomplay and Mdundo act as gatekeepers, institutionalising cultural capital through metrics-driven validation while prioritising hybrid genres such as Gengetone and Afro Neo-Benga. These platforms create a feedback loop where streaming data influences production decisions, compelling artists to negotiate between local identity and global market demands. The study highlights a critical misalignment between formal music education and industry needs, exemplified by producers’ struggles to integrate embodied cultural capital (e.g., traditional musical knowledge) with technical proficiency in global genres. The analysis underscores the dual role of cultural capital as both an artistic resource and market force, emphasising the need for curricula that bridge technical expertise with deep cultural literacy. This research contributes to broader debates on cultural commodification, digital intermediation, and the evolving role of cultural capital in Africa’s creative economies.</p>

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