Over 1,000 artists and musicians—including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, New Order, Tori Amos, Pet Shop Boys, The Clash, Jamiroquai, Hans Zimmer, and Imogen Heap, as well as the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras—have recorded tracks for a silent album protesting proposed changes to copyright law in the UK, which could lead to issues with AI. Is This What We Want? features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, which these artists suggest is the future we’re heading toward if these UK proposals become law.
“If these changes go ahead, the life’s work of all the country’s musicians will be handed over to AI companies for free,” Kate Bush explained. “None of us have a say in it. The UK is full of pioneering, highly creative and imaginative artists. The government’s willingness to agree to these copyright changes shows how much our work is undervalued and that there is no protection for one of this country’s most important assets: music. [...] Each track on this album features a deserted recording studio. Doesn’t that silence say it all?”
Ed Newton-Rex, who organized the album, also said: “The government’s proposal would hand the life’s work of the country’s musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians’ work to outcompete them. It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary. The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus. This album shows that, however the government tries to justify it, musicians themselves are united in their thorough condemnation of this ill-thought-through plan.”
See Bush’s Instagram post about the project below, and rack up those streaming numbers for Is This What We Want? on Spotify here.
