More than 1000 musicians, including the likes of Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Hans Zimmer, Sam Fender and Damon Albarn, have released a silent album protesting the UK government's plans to allow AI companies to use artists' copyright-protected work without permission.

The project, called Is This What We Want?, "consists of recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, representing the impact we expect the government’s proposals would have on musicians’ livelihoods," according to a description on the album's website.

1000 UK Artists are listed as the performers of each song, while Beni Giles is listed as the producer. It is reported Kate Bush has recorded one of the tracks.

The controversial plans, presented by the UK government last December, will allow AI companies to train and improve their algorithms by using the copyrighted material of creatives. The proposal includes an 'opt-out' option for artists looking to block their work from being used, though this has been criticised for being unfeasible and unrealistic.

"AI songwriting algorithms mimic neural networks," explained Dan Murphy, writing for Hot Press in September. "When a user gives a prompt, the AI searches its ever-expanding memory for references, then combines elements from stored music in that genre to create a new 'original' piece".

Ed Newton-Rex, the British musician behind Is This What We Want?', said "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."

Is This What We Want?'s release comes a few months after an online statement from creatives opposing the unlicensed use of their work for AI data-building. Signatories include Elton John, Paul McCartney, ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, American actress Julianne Moore, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, and Radiohead's Thom Yorke. The statement has 47,536 signatures at the time of writing.