Paul McCartney Adds Near‑Silent ‘Bonus Track’ to AI Protest Album’s December Vinyl Reissue

Overview

• The 2:45 piece, largely tape hiss and incidental studio noise, will appear on Is This What We Want? in a 1,000‑copy vinyl run announced for 8 December.
• Titled Bonus Track and recorded in an empty studio, the cut is meant to illustrate fears that unlicensed AI training could mute original creators.
• The project began as a digital compilation in February with contributions from more than a thousand artists including Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, Jamiroquai and Max Richter.
• High‑profile supporters and signatories to related open letters include Elton John, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender, Kate Bush, Hans Zimmer and Pet Shop Boys.
• McCartney told the BBC he worries AI could “take over everything,” as the campaign focuses on a UK plan for a 2026 copyright‑exception bill and cites the U.S. AI Plan of Action advocating freer use of copyrighted works.