African music is going global and Spotify, like everyone else, wants in

It used to be that when you searched Africa on streaming services, you were likely to encounter the 1982 Toto earworm by the same name that just won’t disappear.

Now, global streaming services have put in the effort to host African music, evidently realizing that even as internet penetration on the continent is still relatively low, culturally, Africa is taking off around the world.

Spotify is the latest streaming service to get in on this zeitgeist. Last Friday, Spotify debuted its Afro Hub, a curated section part of Spotify’s Global Cultures content project that also includes Arab, Latino and Desi music.


“It’s our mission to uncover every layer of this ancient, expressive and rhythmic musical culture which is an important component of today’s mainstream, modern music,” Spotify said in a statement.