Amid AI fears and tech dominance, are musicians’ protests amplifying the right message?
Over 1000 musical artists have joined forces on a unique album released today. The album entitled Is This What We Want? consists entirely of tracks made up of complete silence — a bold statement that hints at a world in which big tech extinguishes musicians’ output. The album release is part of a wider coordinated campaign that calls on the UK government to halt plans that sees generative AI threaten creatives livelihoods.
The ask includes classical artists Roderick Williams, Nicky Spence, Sarah Connolly, John Rutter and The Kanneh-Masons, in addition to a wide variety of well-known pop and rock artists including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, the Pet Shop Boys, Yazz, and Zero 7. Signatories are demanding that the government shelves plans for an opt-out (whereby artists actively opt-out from their work being scraped by AI learning tools). Campaigners claim that the opt-out system would be difficult to enforce and would effectively ‘legalise theft’.
That creatives receive fair remuneration for their work is vital for the preservation of a creative economy which is estimated to have generated £7.6 billion. Though with a percentage share of GDP as small as 0.29%, and the general ignorance that now persists around musicians and their need to be paid for their craft, it is going to take a lot of noisy back-stage whispers to convince policymakers in the face of epic pound signs tech companies will be flashing around.
The messaging is well-timed given the ascendancy of the broligarchy of Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Tim Cook et al, in the US, capitalising on tech as the evil overload trampling over culture. Apple fell foul of a similar narrative when the company launched its iPad Pro with an advert depicting technology crushing various creative tools and instruments to illustrate technological advancement. The advert was subsequently pulled, such was the furore online.
In this way, the silencing of musicians manifest in the album release is a nifty eye-catching statement, not entirely dissimilar to the chilling sight of hundreds of freelance musicians gathering in Parliament Square in the summer of 2020 demanding inclusion in the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme during the COVID pandemic. Yet, this campaign feels different and risks an unintended outcome. Like the attention grabbing newspaper wrap-around coverage purchased by the ISM, the vociferous messaging voiced about the dangers of AI risks pitching musicians as victims, simplifying the argument and elevating AI in general as the villain of the piece. This risks alienating those who embrace innovation — early adopters. The messaging is important – creatives deserve remuneration and protection. But the way in which the message is framed risks being alarmist. Advocating for AI by demonstrating how the technology benefits learning (and is only as good as user who interfaces with it) is once again being lost in the melee.
