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The music company representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a portion of royalties from a song it claims was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's unique vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained widespread popularity on TikTok last October, in part due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Although its success and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the track was subsequently removed by leading streaming platforms after music bodies issued takedown requests, alleging it violated copyright by imitating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has now been re-released with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial recording was made with AI trained on her body of recordings and is now seeking financial compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This is not only about one artist. It's larger than a single performer or one song," the label wrote in a recent statement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "both iterations of the song infringe on the artist's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the creative output of all the writers with whom she works."

Known for hits like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was crowned British Female Solo Artist at the annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Suggesting that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "We must not allow this to become the standard practice."

Producers Admit Employing AI Technology

The duo responsible for the track have openly admitted utilizing AI in its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the original vocals were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation software Suno, sometimes called the "ChatGPT for music".

In addition, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a feminine tone".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and created the music themselves and have even provided evidence of their source computer files.

"This is no secret that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to convert exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a creator and maker, I enjoy experimenting with new tools, techniques and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

"To set the record clear, the artists behind HAVEN are actual and human, and all we aim to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Legal Gray Areas and Broader Implications

While their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official rankings, the new recording managed to break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a critical test case for the music industry's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"AI-generated content should be clearly labelled as such so that the public may choose whether they listen to it or not," the message added.

Creators Become 'Collateral Damage'

Smith shared her label's statement on her own Instagram page.

The post cautioned that musicians and songwriters were turning into "unintended casualties in the competition by policymakers and corporations towards AI supremacy".

It further stated that the label would share any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are successful in establishing that AI helped to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would aim to assign each of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Continuing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

The emergence of AI-generated music has been a topic of both interest and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to aid craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always opposed to consuming AI-made music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for alleged violations by the world's major largest record labels, though those cases have since been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music established a collaboration with the company, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

Yet, it remains unclear how many well-known artists will consent to such applications of their identity.

Recently, a group of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or recordings of quiet studios in protest to proposed changes to copyright law.

They contend these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to develop systems using protected work without obtaining a license.