Latest news with #IsThisWhatWeWant
Observer
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Kate Bush leads UK musicians in 'silent album' AI fight
Over 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn on Tuesday released a silent album in protest at proposed changes to UK copyright law around artificial intelligence (AI) which they say will legalise music theft. "Is This What We Want" featuring recordings of empty studios and performance spaces is part of a growing backlash against the government's plans. Writers and musicians including Bush also denounced the proposals as a "wholesale giveaway" to Silicon Valley in a letter to The Times newspaper on Tuesday. Other signatories included Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Sting as well as writers Kazuo Ishiguro, Michael Morpurgo and Helen Fielding. In a very rare move, UK newspapers also highlighted their concerns launching a "Make it Fair" campaign featuring wrap round ads on the front of almost every national daily, with an inside editorial by the papers' editors. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is considering overhauling the law to allow AI companies to use creators' content on the internet to help develop their models, unless rights holders opt out. But artists say opting out will be difficult and onerous. Album organiser Ed Newton-Rex said musicians were "united in their thorough condemnation of this ill-thought-through plan". "The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians' work to outcompete them," he said. "It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary. The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus," he added. - 'Catastrophic' - The album's release was timed to coincide with the end of the government's public consultation on the proposed changes. Starmer has previously said the government needs to "get the balance right" with copyright and AI while noting the technology represented "a huge opportunity". Authors have also spoken out about the UK government's plans. Best selling US writer Scott Turow last week criticised the "cavalier attitude of the British government" which he said proposed to "allow big tech companies to scrape all of our books and repackage our words as 'original content'." "Instead of trying to prevent this, the British government wants to give them a free pass. That will be catastrophic, not just for writers in the UK, but all over the world," he wrote in the Daily Mail. In a rare interview last month, McCartney, 82, one of the two surviving members of The Beatles, told the BBC any new legislation had to protect creative thinkers and artists, warning "you're not going to have them" without that. "You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don't own it, and they don't have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off," he said. "The truth is, the money's going somewhere ... Somebody's getting paid, so why shouldn't it be the guy who sat down and wrote 'Yesterday'?" In 2023, UK music contributed £7.6 billion to the UK economy, with exports of UK music reaching £4.6 billion. —AFP
Fox News
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
British musicians release silent album to protest plans to let AI use their work
A new album called "Is This What We Want?" features a stellar list of more than 1,000 musicians — and the sound of silence. With contributions from British artists including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Damon Albarn, the album was released Tuesday to protest proposed British changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will erode their creative control. The U.K. government is consulting on whether to let tech firms use copyrighted material to help train AI models unless the creators explicitly opt out. Critics of the idea fear that it will make it harder for artists to retain control of their work and will undermine Britain's creative industries. Elton John and Paul McCartney are among those who have spoken out against the plan. The protest album features "almost silence," said composer and AI developer Ed Newton-Rex, who organized the album. The 12 tracks consist of recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, "to symbolize what we expect will happen if the government's proposals go through." "It's a mix of artists that everyone's heard of and, you know, and many musicians who are not household names," he told The Associated Press. "And I think that's really important because this issue is going to affect all of us." The titles of the 12 tracks spell out: "The British government must not legalize music theft to benefit AI companies." Profits will be donated to the musicians' charity Help Musicians. "The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians' work to outcompete them," Newton-Rex said. "It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary," he said. "The U.K. can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus." Britain's center-left Labour Party government says it wants to make the U.K. a world leader in AI. In December, it announced a consultation into how copyright law can "enable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training" while also ensuring "AI developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content." The consultation closes on Tuesday. Publishers, artists' organizations and media companies, including The Associated Press, have banded together as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to oppose weakening copyright protections. Several U.K. newspapers ran wraparounds over their front pages on Tuesday, criticizing the government consultation and saying: "Let's protect the creative industries — it's only fair." The British government said in a statement that it was "consulting on a new approach that protects the interests of both AI developers and right holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive." It added that "no decisions have been taken."
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
1,000 Artists Release Silent AI Protest Album Is This What We Want?
The post 1,000 Artists Release Silent AI Protest Album Is This What We Want? appeared first on Consequence. More than 1,000 artists — including Damon Albarn, Kate Bush, and Annie Lennox — have released a silent album in protest of the UK government's proposed changes to copyright law, allowing AI companies to train their models using copyrighted work without a license. Titled Is This What We Want? the project contains recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, which represent the 'impact we expect the government's proposals would have on musicians' livelihoods.' It consists of 12 tracks, which spell out a message that reads, 'The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.' Other artists credited on the album include Ed O'Brien of Radiohead, The Clash, Tori Amos, Hans Zimmer, Pet Shop Boys, Jamiroquai, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens. All proceeds are being donated to the UK charity Help Musicians. 'The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians' work to outcompete them,' said Ed Newton-Rex, the British composer and former AI executive behind the album. 'It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary: the UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus.' In her own statement, Bush added, 'In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?' This past December, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers published a study suggesting music industry workers could lose up to 24% of their revenue by 2028 unless governments implement robust protections against AI. Tracklist: 01. The 02. British 03. Government 04. Must 05. Not 06. Legalise 07. Music 08. Theft 09. To 10. Benefit 11. AI 12. Companies 1,000 Artists Release Silent AI Protest Album Is This What We Want? Eddie Fu Popular Posts J6 Prison Choir to Perform at Kennedy Center Tony Hawk Wishes Kurt Cobain Could Meet Their Shared Grandson Wu-Tang Clan Announce Final Tour with Run the Jewels as Special Guest The 69 Sexiest Film Scenes of All Time Grimes Turns to Twitter to Beg for Elon Musk's Attention Amid Child's "Medical Crisis" Kanye West Acknowledges Report That He's Inhaling Nitrous Oxide Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
Al Jazeera
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
Music stars release silent album in protest against UK AI copyright plans
Is This What We Want features recordings of empty studios, performance spaces, highlighting danger to creative trade. 25 Feb 2025 More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Cat Stevens and Annie Lennox, have released a silent album in protest of the proposed changes to British copyright laws around artificial intelligence (AI), which they warned could lead to legalised music theft. The album, titled Is This What We Want, was launched on Tuesday and features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, as backlash against the plan grows in the United Kingdom. The proposed changes would allow AI developers to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access, and would require creators to proactively opt out to stop their work from being used. Critics, including the artists participating in the silent album, say it would reverse the principle of copyright law, which grants exclusive control to creators over their work. The emergence of AI has posed a threat to the creative industry, including music, raising legal and ethical questions on a new technological platform that could produce its own output without paying creators of original content. Bush and other writers and musicians denounced the proposals in UK law as a 'wholesale giveaway' to Silicon Valley in a letter to The Times newspaper. Ed Newton-Rex, organiser of the project, said musicians were 'united in their thorough condemnation of this ill-thought-through plan'. In a very rare move, UK newspapers also highlighted their concerns, launching a campaign featuring wrap-around advertisements on the front of almost every national daily, with an inside editorial by the papers' editors. A public consultation on the legal changes will close later on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to become a superpower in the AI industry. Responding to the album, a government spokesperson said the current copyright and AI regime was holding back the creative industries from 'realising their full potential'.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kate Bush leads UK musicians in 'silent album' AI fight
Over 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn on Tuesday released a silent album in protest at proposed changes to UK copyright law around artificial intelligence (AI) which they say will legalise music theft. "Is This What We Want" featuring recordings of empty studios and performance spaces is part of a growing backlash against the government's plans. Writers and musicians including Bush also denounced the proposals as a "wholesale giveaway" to Silicon Valley in a letter to The Times newspaper on Tuesday. Other signatories included Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Sting as well as writers Kazuo Ishiguro, Michael Morpurgo and Helen Fielding. In a very rare move, UK newspapers also highlighted their concerns launching a "Make it Fair" campaign featuring wrap round ads on the front of almost every national daily, with an inside editorial by the papers' editors. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is considering overhauling the law to allow AI companies to use creators' content on the internet to help develop their models, unless rights holders opt out. But artists say opting out will be difficult and onerous. Album organiser Ed Newton-Rex said musicians were "united in their thorough condemnation of this ill-thought-through plan". "The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians' work to outcompete them," he said. "It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary. The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus," he added. - 'Catastrophic' - The album's release was timed to coincide with the end of the government's public consultation on the proposed changes. Starmer has previously said the government needs to "get the balance right" with copyright and AI while noting the technology represented "a huge opportunity". Authors have also spoken out about the UK government's plans. Best selling US writer Scott Turow last week criticised the "cavalier attitude of the British government" which he said proposed to "allow big tech companies to scrape all of our books and repackage our words as 'original content'." "Instead of trying to prevent this, the British government wants to give them a free pass. That will be catastrophic, not just for writers in the UK, but all over the world," he wrote in the Daily Mail. In a rare interview last month, McCartney, 82, one of the two surviving members of The Beatles, told the BBC any new legislation had to protect creative thinkers and artists, warning "you're not going to have them" without that. "You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don't own it, and they don't have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off," he said. "The truth is, the money's going somewhere ... Somebody's getting paid, so why shouldn't it be the guy who sat down and wrote 'Yesterday'?" In 2023, UK music contributed £7.6 billion to the UK economy, with exports of UK music reaching £4.6 billion. har/jkb/rl
