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Artists Release Silent Album to Protest Change In UK Copyright Law

By Steve Salkin
March 01, 2025

More than 1,000 artists are credited on a “silent” record released on February 25 in protest over changes that the UK government is considering to its copyright law, changes which critics say will make it easier for AI models to use copyrighted material without securing a license.

Artists such as Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and (Yusuf) Cat Stevens are listed as contributors to the record, "Is This What We Want," which includes 12 tracks, whose names spell out “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.” Each track varies in length, with the longest is “Music” at 4:28. The tracks are mostly all silence and while I didn’t listen to all 45 minutes, a scan of each track reveals some bird sounds as well as what sounds like someone moving around the studio in the background. The record has just over 100,000 total listens on Spotify (as of Feb. 28).

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