How to Use Spotify to Discover New African Artists

African music has crossed borders at a pace that would have seemed impossible a decade ago. Burna Boy selling out arenas from London to Atlanta, Tems breaking into Hollywood soundtracks, and South Africa's amapiano sound ruling club floors worldwide all prove that the continent's sound is now global currency. For Australian listeners who want to ride this wave without missing a beat, Spotify remains the most powerful tool available. With millions of African tracks uploaded each year and editorial teams investing heavily in playlists, the platform offers more ways to stumble onto fresh sounds than any other service. The trick lies in knowing which buttons to push and which habits to build.

This guide walks through practical ways to find artists from Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Accra, and beyond. It assumes you already have a Spotify account, free or paid, and that you are willing to spend a few minutes tweaking how you listen. Whether you are in a flat in Surry Hills, a share house in Fitzroy, or a coastal town in Western Australia, the same strategies apply.

Tweak your Spotify settings for African discovery

The first move is to set your language and region preferences so that Spotify's algorithm understands what you want to hear. Open the app, head to Settings, then find Language and Region. Switching your preferred music language to English, Yoruba, Igbo, Twi, Zulu, or Swahili signals to the system that you enjoy music from those linguistic backgrounds. You can list several languages, and Spotify will broaden recommendations accordingly. Many users in Melbourne's multicultural inner suburbs, where African communities have grown significantly over the past two decades, already do this to keep up with releases from home. If you are in Sydney and want to mirror that approach, the settings page is the same regardless of postcode.

Once you adjust these settings, the Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists start reflecting a wider spread of genres. You will notice afrobeats, afropop, amapiano, Afro-house, highlife, gengetone, and Benga woven into your mixes. Australian listeners benefit from Triple J's long-standing support of world music, which has primed many people to appreciate non-English lyrics. Spotify picks up on that listening history and tends to suggest tracks with similar DNA. The result feels less like a cold recommendation and more like a friend handing you a USB stick of new songs.

Lean on curated playlists and Spotify editorial picks

Spotify's editorial team runs dozens of playlists dedicated to African music, and these are updated weekly by curators based in Lagos, London, and New York. Some of the most useful are African Heat, Afrobeats Hits, Amapiano Grooves, and African Viral Hits. Subscribing to these playlists ensures new tracks appear in your library automatically. You should also search for playlists maintained by local tastemakers in cities such as Lagos and Accra. Curators from those cities often pick emerging artists weeks before the artists appear in global editorial slots.

Australian listeners can combine these global playlists with homegrown curation. Triple J Unearthed has helped launch many local acts, and similar platforms exist on the African continent. Once you find an African playlist you love, hit the heart icon, then look at the artist pages Spotify links at the bottom of each track. Following those artists pushes similar names into your algorithmic feeds. Over a few weeks, you will find yourself recognising names before they appear on major charts.

Build your own radio stations and use the algorithm

The Radio feature is one of the most underrated discovery tools on Spotify. Start Radio from any African artist you already enjoy, whether that is Wizkid, Asake, Uncle Waffles, or Black Coffee. Spotify builds a station around that seed artist, pulling in tracks with matching tempo, mood, and instrumentation. Stations run for hours, surfacing deep cuts and brand-new releases that you would never find through searching alone. For Australians spending long commutes on the M1 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, a radio station is the perfect hands-off way to expand your library.

Another powerful habit is saving every track you enjoy to a playlist called something like African Discoveries. This acts as a feedback loop. The more you save, the more accurately Spotify models your taste. You can also use the search bar to find decade-spanning playlists such as African Classics or Essential Afrobeats. If you want to go deeper, browse the catalogue of labels like Mavin Records, Universal Music Nigeria, and Platoon. Following a label is a shortcut to dozens of artists you have never heard of. The same applies to producers such as Sarz and Kel-P, whose credits lead you to a web of collaborators.

Follow African artists, labels, and podcasts directly

Following is free and takes seconds. Once you follow an artist, label, or playlist curator, Spotify pushes new releases into your Release Radar every Friday. Make it a habit to scan your Release Radar on Friday morning with your coffee. Many Australians already use this ritual to stay current with hip-hop or indie rock, and the same approach works beautifully for African music. Combine it with following local African music media outlets on Spotify. Some run podcast series that premiere new tracks and interview rising stars.

Spotify also hosts official podcasts from African broadcasters and music platforms. Tune in during your daily routine, whether you are cycling along the Yarra River or driving through the Adelaide Hills. Many of these shows feature unsigned artists who have not yet cracked major playlists. For readers who want a broader set of practical guides on using digital tools, the how-to collection on Northnods offers plenty of related tutorials that touch on music apps, streaming services, and mobile settings. Saving podcasts for offline listening makes them perfect for the long flights Australians often take between east and west coasts.

Connect with the African music scene on the ground in Australia

Digital tools open the door, but live experiences lock in your taste. Australia hosts a growing circuit of African music events, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, where diaspora communities run regular club nights, cultural festivals, and live concerts. Events such as the Afrika Festival Melbourne, Sydney's Afro Vibes, and Brisbane's Africa Night bring DJs and artists from across the continent to Australian stages. Following the promoters on Instagram and Spotify keeps you informed when international acts announce Australian tours.

Industry support also exists. APRA AMCOS, the Australian performing rights organisation, collects royalties for songwriters and publishers, ensuring that African artists whose music is streamed in Australia are paid. The Copyright Act 1968 governs how music is licensed locally, while the ACCC monitors how platforms like Spotify and Apple Music operate under Australian consumer law. These protections matter because they shape how easily international catalogues reach Australian ears. Pair your streaming habit with attending at least one live African music show each year. Hearing amapiano played in a Melbourne basement club or afrobeats ringing out at a Sydney festival cements the listening habits you have built online. After a few months of mixing algorithms, editorial picks, radio stations, and live shows, your Spotify library will read like a passport stamped across an entire continent.