Over a Thousand Musicians Release Silent Album to Oppose UK AI Copyright Plan
A massive group of artists, including Kate Bush and Damon Albarn, releases a completely silent album to protest a proposed British law that allows AI companies to train on copyrighted music without a license.
Over a thousand musicians release a completely silent album called "Is This What We Want?" to protest proposed British AI laws. The album features a track listing that spells out a clear message demanding that the government refuse to legalize music theft for the benefit of AI companies. High-profile artists such as Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, and Hans Zimmer back this unique project, which donates all of its profits to the charity Help Musicians.
The musicians target a UK government proposal that allows AI developers to use creators' work to train their models unless the rights holders explicitly opt out. While the government claims this copyright regime provides creators with real control and transparency, the participating artists argue that an individual opt-out system is completely unworkable. They point out that it is impossible for a single creator to monitor and notify the thousands of AI services currently scraping online content.
Project organizer Ed Newton-Rex states that these government proposals are disastrous for musicians and entirely unnecessary. The collective protest emphasizes that artists are united in their condemnation of the plan, fearing that their voices will go unheard in the music of the future. By releasing this silence, the group hopes to draw widespread public attention to the devastating impact these AI training laws will have on the entire UK music industry.