Overview
- Rubén Albarrán said the band delivered formal letters to Universal Music México and Warner Music México asking them to remove Café Tacvba’s catalog from Spotify.
- The request cites ethical and artistic objections including alleged ties to defense investments, ICE-related advertising, low payouts under an unfair royalty pool, and harmful uses of AI.
- Albarrán urged fans to use other services or boycott Spotify as a protest against what he described as abusive practices.
- Spotify issued a statement saying it does not finance war, stated there are currently no ICE ads, defended AI policies as protective of human artists, and said about 70% of revenue is paid to rights holders.
- The labels control takedown decisions and no removal has been confirmed, though a potential exit would be significant given the band’s more than 7 million monthly Spotify listeners and the wider artist pushback over streaming practices.