Paul McCartney joins a movement of artists worried about the pillaging of their works by AI giants. For the vinyl release of Is This What We Want?, Macca offers a new track… totally silent. A radical way to denounce the abuses of AI in music.
A silent track
For the vinyl release scheduled for December 8, McCartney now adds its own silent contribution: a title entitled Bonus Track, 2 minutes and 45 seconds of absolute silence.
Questioned by the BBC earlier this year, McCartney was particularly concerned about the intrusion of AI into his profession. “You have young people, boys and girls, who come in and write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it.”he explained. “They have no control, and anyone can take it… When the song ends up on streaming platforms, someone gets the money, and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn't go to a tech giant. Someone gets paid. Why not the one who sat down to write Yesterday? »
The original digital version of Is This What We Want? featured a list of one-word titles, which when put together formed a complete message: “The British Government Must Not Legalize Music Theft to Benefit AI Companies”. Among the artists associated with the project are the Clash, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Tori Amos, Damon Albarn, Hans Zimmer, Billy Ocean And Yusuf/Cat Stevens. The profits will be donated to the Help Musicians association.
