Paul McCartney releases silent track in protest over AI use in music

Paul McCartney has joined a music-industry campaign against the use of copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence systems, contributing an almost silent recording to a protest LP titled Is This What We Want?.

The track marks McCartney’s first new release in five years and appears as a bonus track on the album’s B-side.

The recording consists of studio hiss, brief incidental noise and a fadeout, intended to symbolise concerns within the music industry about AI companies using copyrighted work without approval or payment.

The album’s track listing spells out the message: “the British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”

The project was organised by composer and copyright-fairness campaigner Ed Newton-Rex.

The silent LP is part of a broader effort by musicians urging the UK government not to introduce copyright exemptions that would allow “text and data mining” of creative work for AI training without an opt-in system or guaranteed royalties.

McCartney, who is currently touring North America, has previously said that AI poses risks to emerging musicians, stating that “we’ve got to be careful about it,” and that it would be “a very sad thing” if AI made it harder for young writers and composers to build careers.

Other artists participating in or supporting the protest album include Sam Fender, Kate Bush, Hans Zimmer, and the Pet Shop Boys.

Bush has questioned whether artists’ voices “will go unheard” in the future, while composer Max Richter has argued that proposed copyright changes would disadvantage creators in favour of companies “automating creativity.”

Is This What We Want? will be released later this month as a vinyl pressing featuring multiple silent tracks from participating musicians.