Spotify denies funding war after accusation from Mexican rock band Café Tacuba

Spotify’s digital streaming platform rejected this Thursday that the company finances warlike actions, as stated by the vocalist of the rock group Café Tacuba, who requested that Universal Music and Warner Music Mexico remove the group’s catalog from said service, in protest against the company’s alleged investment in wars. “We respect the artistic legacy of Café Tacuba and Rubén Albarrán’s right to express his opinions, but the facts tell a different story. Spotify does not fund the war,” the platform explained in a statement shared with EFE. The reaction occurs after Albarrán published a video message on his social media on Wednesday, where he stated that the platform contravenes his artistic vision and his ethics, and questioned the royalty distribution model and the use of artificial intelligence in the music industry.

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“In the past few days, on behalf of Café Tacvba, I have delivered a letter to both Universal Music and Warner Music Mexico, requesting that the Café Tacvba catalog be removed from the Spotify platform,” he stated. The controversy arose after Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, announced last June an investment of 700 million dollars through his personal company, Prima Materia, in the European defense company Helsing. This is a firm specializing in artificial intelligence software integrated into fighter jets. However, in its position, Spotify specified that “Helsing is an independent company that has been supplying defense technology to Ukraine.” Albarrán also said that one of the arguments for requesting that the band’s music be removed from Spotify was due to “the advertising of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)” that the platform has. In that regard, Spotify stated that “there are currently no ICE ads” in its content and clarified that “the aforementioned advertising was part of a recruitment campaign by the United States Government that was broadcast on major media and platforms.” The musician also criticized “the use of artificial intelligence to the detriment of musicians and all people,” arguing that “music must have meaning and must support the people and give them strength.” Regarding this, the company argued that Spotify “is a platform for music, and our AI policy focuses on protecting human artists from clones and fraud.” In his critique, Albarrán commented that the group seeks to prevent its income from ending up linked to conflicts, “we don’t want our royalties, the money they take from us, to be used to sponsor wars and other reprehensible actions.”

Regarding this, the platform said it is “proud” that Café Tacvba’s music has generated millions of dollars on Spotify over the years and stated that it continues to pay more money to more artists “than any other player in music history”.

“We constantly pay 70% of our revenue to the rights holders. We have deep respect for the legacy of Café Tacvba and remain committed to being the bridge between their music and the millions of fans who support them on our platform every day,” the company stated. In his post, the vocalist of Café Tacuba, who has more than 7.3 million monthly listeners, invited followers to listen to the group on other platforms or even to “boycott” Spotify, and called to “create a new world, more just, horizontal” and in which “music continues to have value” and “meaning”. The Mexican band’s request joins others, such as the English group Massive Attack, Björk, Lorde, Deerhoof, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.