Why 1000 Artists Went Silent

Why 1000 Artists Went Silent

Perplexity Search

TL;DR: Over 1,000 UK musicians, including Kate Bush and Damon Albarn, released a silent album titled Is This What We Want? to oppose proposed copyright law changes that could allow AI companies to use their work without permission.

Key Points:

• The silent album, Is This What We Want?, features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, symbolizing a future without music if the proposed laws pass.

• Prominent artists like Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Hans Zimmer are among the over 1,000 contributors protesting the UK government’s plans.

• The release coincided with the end of a government consultation on copyright law changes, set to conclude on February 25, 2025.

• All proceeds from the album support Help Musicians, a UK charity aiding musicians in need.

Why It Matters: The UK has had a much more active and ongoing engagement with AI usage in the creative space. It became particularly notable last year when dead celebrities were having their names and images recreated for movies. Most notably with "Alien: Romulus," which featured a digital recreation of Ian Holm, who died in 2020, using AI to transform another actor's performance to match Holm's appearance and voice. The UK still hasn't quite come to terms with what that future looks like with movies and dead celebrities, as it lacks explicit "personality rights" laws that exist in places like the United States.

This latest issue with musicians is only going to continue the conversation. Over 1,000 artists, including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and members of Radiohead, have released a silent album titled "Is This What We Want?" to protest proposed changes to UK copyright law. The album features 12 silent tracks with titles that collectively form the message: "The British Government Must Not Legalise Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies."

The UK is currently conducting an open consultation period about AI usage and how they want to protect rights holders, which closed on February 25, 2025. The government is considering introducing a copyright exception that would allow AI companies to train their models on copyrighted works without explicit permission from creators. They're also contemplating new intellectual property protections for personality rights in response to the challenges posed by digital replicas and deepfakes.

But in a global environment with unclear protections, it may be harder to determine or even stop some of the abuse that the UK government is currently considering. One area that is not being discussed enough is potentially having some sort of blockchain for IP to compare and test content against. The closest this is with a company called Story who's trying to build a creative blockchain for IP. Potentially, you could see something similar with music to try to protect rights holders.

The UK music scene, which pumped £7.6 billion into the economy in 2023, relies on a strong copyright framework to thrive globally. If these changes go through, artists worry they'll be sidelined as AI-generated content floods the market, potentially slashing jobs and dimming Britain's cultural influence. Critics of the proposed "opt-out" system argue it would be impractical for individual creators to inform numerous AI providers of their preferences or track how their work is being used across the internet.