UK protest against AI: 1,000 artistes release tracks from empty studios to oppose bid to ‘legalise theft’

More than 1,000 British musicians have come together but this is not a sequel to Bob Geldof’s Live Aid benefit concert from 1985. On the agenda is a silent album in protest against the British government’s stand on artificial intelligence in creative fields.

Is This What We Want comprises 12 tracks — all credited to 1,000 UK artistes — spread over 47 minutes. Musicians like Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Jamiroquai, Cat Yusuf Stevens, The Clash and Hans Zimmer have put together the recordings — of empty studios and performance spaces. The recordings represent what organisers say is the potential impact on artists’ livelihoods should the changes go ahead.