Mexican band Café Tacvba has asked its former record labels, Universal Music and Warner Music Mexico, to remove the group’s catalog from Spotify, arguing that the platform “contravenes their artistic and social principles.” The band’s vocalist Rubén Albarrán made the announcement on Wednesday (Jan. 7) in a message shared on social media.
“I delivered letters to the record labels WMM and UMM, which by contract have the exploitation rights of Café Tacvba’s catalog, asking them to remove our music from the platform Stupidfy (sic) because it goes against our artistic vision and our personal and band ethics,” Albarrán said in the post.
Universal Music Mexico and Warner Music Mexico told Billboard Español on Thursday (Jan. 8) that they will not comment on the matter for now. At press time, the band’s music was still available on the platform.
Known for his activism in support of animals, the environment and human rights, Albarrán also urged his fans to listen to the band’s music on other platforms, claiming that Spotify has supported “reprehensible” actions, such as investments in weaponry and advertising for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as questioning the royalty distribution model and the use of artificial intelligence in the music industry.
“Music must have meaning, and it must support the people, give them strength,” he added, “and we don’t want our royalties and the money they take from us to be used to sponsor wars and other despicable actions.”
Pablo Txino García, the manager of Café Tacvba, confirmed to Billboard Español that the stance Albarrán made public on Wednesday “is a position shared by the band.” The famous rock quartet’s request to their former record labels sets a precedent in Mexico and Latin America, and opens a conversation about the use of music in a context that goes beyond its cultural vocation.
“We respect Café Tacvba’s artistic legacy and Rubén Albarrán’s right to express his opinions, but the facts tell a different story,” a spokesperson for Spotify Mexico told Billboard Español on Thursday in an email responding to a request for comments. “Spotify does not finance war. Helsing is an independent company that has been supplying defense technology to Ukraine. Additionally, there are currently no ICE ads on Spotify; the mentioned advertisement was part of a U.S. government recruitment campaign that was broadcast on major media outlets and platforms. Spotify is a platform for music, and our AI policy focuses on protecting human artists from clones and fraud.”
The spokesperson emphasized that they are proud that Café Tacvba’s music has generated millions of dollars on Spotify over the years. “The reality is that Spotify continues to pay more money to more artists than any other player in the history of music,” they said, noting that the company currently pays 70% of revenues to rights holders. “We feel a deep respect for Café Tacvba’s legacy and remain committed to being the bridge between their music and the millions of fans who support them on our platform every day.”
An eight-time Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-Award-winning group, Café Tacvba released its first four albums — Café Tacvba (1992), Re (1994), Avalancha de Éxitos (1996), Revés/Yo Soy (1999) y MTV Unplugged (2005) — under Warner Music. From this list, the only album unavailable on Spotify is Revés/Yo Soy, due to administrative issues. Under Universal Music Mexico, the band — also made up of Emmanuel del Real (keyboards), Joselo Rangel (guitar), and Quique Rangel (bass) — released Cuatro Caminos (2003), Sino (2007), El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco (2012), the CD/DVD Un Viaje (2005) and Un Segundo MTV Unplugged (2019).
According to Spotify, anyone who owns the rights to their music can upload it or remove it from the platform, as specified on the publicly accessible Spotify for Artists website. To do so, the artist must contact their distributor or record label and ask them to submit a removal request. If they cannot reach them, they can request the catalog’s removal through an infringement form that the applicant must fill out.
The Mexican band’s request to remove their catalog from Spotify follows similar efforts from global acts such as Massive Attack, Björk, and Lorde, with each of those acts’ music still being available on the platform as of Thursday.
