The artists, including, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Damon Albarn, from a group of 1,000 performers and songwriters, released a “silent album” to protest against a measure they declare will “exploit their work by using it for free and affect their creative control.”
Paul McCartney, Elton John, Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and even actress Julianne Moore joined the protest, calling for the protection of their works.
The album, called “Is This What We Want?”, includes 12 tracks that are actually recordings of empty studios and stages and their titles form the phrase: “The British government should not legalize the theft of music to benefit AI companies”.
The production is available from this Tuesday on Spotify and other platforms, and the proceeds will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.
The British government’s project would, according to these creators, allow AI to use copyrighted material, including music tracks, for free, except if their authors explicitly object.
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