Ed O'Brien co-writes a silent album against the UK's AI copyright plan

Ed O'Brien is one of the co-writers of Is This What We Want?, an album of silence released on 25 February and credited to more than 1,000 musicians. Its 12 tracks are recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, and their titles, read in order, say “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”

The protest is aimed at the government's proposal, made late last year, to change copyright law so that AI companies can train their products on other people's work, music included, without a licence. The empty rooms stand for what the organisers expect that would do to musicians' livelihoods, and all profits go to the charity Help Musicians.

O'Brien was named at the top of the credits with Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn, and Nigel Godrich is on the full list. The man behind the album is Ed Newton-Rex, a British composer and former AI executive, who also organised the October statement against unlicensed AI training that Thom Yorke signed.

Is This What We Want?, the silent album· Is This What We Want?watch on youtube →