In addition to being one of Mexico’s most beloved rock groups, Café Tacvba is known for years of activism. Following recent boycotts of Spotify for promoting ICE recruitment and connections to AI military investment, the band’s frontman Rubén Albarrán is now taking aim at the music streaming platform and doing everything he can to remove their music from Spotify.
“It all started when I realized that Daniel Ek, the ex-CEO of Spotify, had invested millions into military technology,” Café Tacvba’s lead singer Albarrán tells Rolling Stone. “That was the detonator in starting this process of trying to take down our songs from Spotify. It’s been a long process that’s still ongoing.”
Last June, Ek revealed that he partially funded a new €600 million investment into AI military defense company Helsing, which specializes in AI software that’s integrated into the HX-2 military drone. Ek initially invested €100 million into the German company when it was created in 2021. Following that news, bands like Massive Attack and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard asked for their music to be removed from Spotify.
In November, Spotify came under fire for platforming ICE recruitment ads, reflecting the Trump administration’s targeted attacks and raids in Latino communities. Spotify announced that it stopped running ICE ads at the end of 2025 after the government agency’s recruitment campaign ended, and Ek will be stepping down as Spotify’s CEO at the beginning of this year.
Still, that hasn’t changed Café Tacvba’s decision to part ways with the streaming platform. Albarrán and his bandmates sent a letter to Universal Music Mexico and Warner Music Mexico to remove Café Tacvba’s music from what he called “Stupidfy.” Café Tacvba has over 7.4 million monthly listeners (as of press time, the band’s music can still be streamed on Spotify.) Their biggest hits like “Eres,” “Cómo Te Extraño Mi Amor,” “Quiero Ver,” “La Ingrata,” and “Las Flores” have well over a billion combined streams on the platform. Over Zoom, Albarrán talked about Café Tacvba’s issues with Spotify, the ICE raids in the US, and why he isn’t afraid to speak up.
Why is it important for the members of Café Tacvba to remove their music from Spotify?
This is a decision that we decided to make as a group. I believe music is a force that should make people and communities feel a sense of resilience and support and not the contrary. During those times that Ek was investing into military technology, I believe we should have been betting on peace and not war. It was equally upsetting when they were playing those ICE ads. I feel like a big part of our audience is Latino. As musicians, we should use our energy to uplift our people and communities, not go against them. The energy we transmit should be like a medicine and refuge for people and not used to target communities and violate them.
After Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent, Spotify revealed that it stopped running the ICE recruitment ads. What are your thoughts on that situation?
I believe we live in an era of disinformation and it’s difficult to find out what the true reason is. It’s been said that ICE’s campaign budget ran out. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t something that Spotify condemned. Spotify previously said that it wasn’t going to stop playing ICE ads and that made people talk. Now Spotify sees the movement has gotten so much bigger. The audience that uses Spotify is organizing and boycotting and that’s a language that companies and corporations understand. It’s possible that Spotify is rethinking its decisions because of that. Yes, they’ve stopped running the ads, but that wasn’t done because they have a conscience. A corporation doesn’t have a conscience. They did that because they’re seeing how their own interests are being affected.
What are your thoughts on what Latinos in the U.S. are going through during these ICE raids?
It’s very terrifying. For me, ICE is a terrorist organization because they’re sowing the seeds of terror in Latino and immigrant communities. It’s very horrible how they’re violating people and criminalizing them. As it’s been said, no one is illegal on stolen lands. A lot of people have lived in the U.S. for a very long time and many of them didn’t cross the border. The border crossed them. We have to keep protesting, talking about this, and making it clear that they’re the ones who are the terrorists.
What’s the update on Café Tacvba’s request to the band’s record labels?
As of now, we haven’t received a response. We’re still waiting for a response from Warner Music Mexico and Universal Music Mexico. We don’t know what will happen. We hope to receive a favorable response. But, on the other hand, we’re using our voices and calling to attention why so many people are taking action against Spotify and its reprehensible ways. This affects all of us. It affects our society and the way in which we connect with music. It affects musicians and the unfair deals we have with this company. This is serving as a purpose to open dialogue and let people know the way this company has handled things and to take action against them.
For more than 30 years now, you’ve been outspoken about causes that are important to you. Has there ever been a time when you’ve been afraid to speak so freely?
There were moments where I did feel afraid. Everything is invisible and privacy doesn’t exist, but my life is normal and I’m going to keep talking about this. I’m not going to stop doing this because to me, it’s what’s right. I want to believe that I still have my humanity and that it hasn’t been deteriorated by the way society is now being shaped.
What kind of changes are you hoping to see happen this year?
I believe I’m seeing those changes and they’re happening. I believe as people, we’re elevating our level of consciousness in an accelerated way. I believe we’re realizing that water is much more important than money and the earth is more important than our places of employment. We’re realizing that these corporations make us sick with their products. They consume our time and rob our attention. There’s more ways to live with love and compassion. Yes, there’s a lot of negative and terrible things happening. There’s a lot of terrorism against us, but there’s also a lot of light. I believe there always exists an equilibrium. There’s a lot of darkness, but at the same time, there’s so much light. I’ve asked myself: Are these demons that we’re confronting coming to wake us up? There’s an expansion of consciousness spreading. There’s a lot of people working for the good of the planet and our communities. That’s very beautiful and it gives me a lot of hope.
