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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a track it claims was produced using an AI "clone" of the performer's unique voice.

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

Despite its success and potential chart position in the UK and US, the song was later removed by major streaming platforms after industry organizations issued copyright notices, alleging it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has since been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the original recording was generated with AI programmed on her extensive work and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Broader Principle in Play

"This is not only about one artist. This is bigger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a public statement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "both iterations of the song violate the artist's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of the work of all the writers with whom she works."

Famous for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named Best British Female at the annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Implying that her fans were possibly misled by Haven's first release, the label concluded: "Our industry must not permit this to be the new normal."

Producers Admit Using AI Technology

The duo responsible for the song have openly confirmed using AI during its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the initial vocals were actually his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation platform Suno, often called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female tone".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they wrote and created the music themselves and have even shared evidence of their original production sessions.

"This shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a songwriter and producer, I like using new tools, techniques and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

"To set the record straight, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we aim to do is make great music for other humans."

Legal Gray Areas and Broader Implications

Although their first release of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the new recording managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a significant precedent for the music industry's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing regulation".

"AI-generated material should be transparently identified as such so that the public may decide 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 warned that musicians and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the race by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

It further noted that the label would distribute any awarded royalties with the writers behind Smith's music.

"If we are successful in proving that AI assisted to write the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to allocate every one of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Continuing Growth of AI Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a source of both fascination and anxiety for the music industry.

• In the summer, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of streams before disclosing they used AI to help craft their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's major biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been resolved.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the firm, which will enable users to create songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

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

Recently, a group of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing silent songs or audio of quiet studios in opposition to proposed changes to copyright law.

They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to train models using protected work without securing a license.