Paul McCartney joins silent AI protest album ahead of vinyl release
Paul McCartney has joined over 1,000 artists to use silence to challenge proposed AI legislation.
The dissatisfaction and justified concern of musicians and creatives around generative AI training policies continues, just as worryingly blasé statements on the topic from heavyweight politicians continues. In protest, artists are using their craft – or rather, deliberately withholding it – to make a stand, with Paul McCartney joining the ranks.
The silent protest album Is This What We Want? – first released digitally in February – will soon arrive on vinyl. This physical edition will feature a new bonus track from Paul McCartney, adding even more weight to a movement already supported by more than 1,000 musicians.
The original digital release brought together artists from across the UK to raise concerns about proposed changes to copyright law. These plans would make it easier for AI developers to train their systems on music without securing a licence. Instead of protecting artists by default, the plans would require them to proactively opt out.
A MusicWeek reports, the organisers of the protest project explained, “‘Opt-out’ models are near impossible to enforce, have yet to be proven effective anywhere else in the world, and place enormous burdens on artists, particularly emerging talent.”
The album uses silence as a symbol of what many fear could happen if AI companies continue extracting creative work without permission. Each track captures the atmosphere of an empty studio or performance space – a future where human expression is pushed aside. The message is made even clearer through the album’s track listing, which spells out: “the British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”
Paul McCartney’s new contribution follows the same approach. As The Guardian reports, his track is almost entirely silent apart from the soft hiss of tape and small clatters in the background, echoing the sense of creative spaces being abandoned. McCartney has spoken repeatedly about the potential harm to emerging talent, saying, “We[’ve] got to be careful about it because it could just take over and we don’t want that to happen, particularly for the young composers and writers [for] who, it may be the only way they[’re] gonna make a career.” He added, “If AI wipes that out, that would be a very sad thing indeed.”
Other artists involved in the album have shared similar worries. Kate Bush asked, “In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?” while Max Richter warned that “The government’s proposals would impoverish creators, favouring those automating creativity over the people who compose our music, write our literature, paint our art.” These comments reflect a wider anxiety across the creative industries that AI could reshape the landscape in ways that sideline human makers.
The political climate surrounding this issue is becoming increasingly tense. Donald Trump recently commented on global approaches to AI governance, stating, “We have to allow AI to use that [copyrighted] pool of knowledge without going through the complexity of contract negotiations,” and warned international governments not to “make rules and regulations that … make it impossible” for AI companies to operate. For many artists, remarks like this send a worrying signal about where international pressure may push UK policymakers next.
Ed Newton-Rex, who organised the album, said, “The government must commit to not handing the life’s work of the country’s musicians to AI companies for free. Doing so would be hugely damaging to our world-leading creative industries, and is totally unnecessary, only benefiting overseas tech giants.” Paul Sanders of The state51 Conspiracy added that free access to music benefits only big tech, saying, “It’s simply so they can make millions of fake songs and keep all the profits for themselves.”
Proceeds from the vinyl release will go to Help Musicians, offering support at a time of uncertainty. The project serves as both a protest and a reminder that human creativity should not be taken for granted.