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The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has stated its intention to receive a portion of earnings from a song it asserts was produced using an AI "clone" of the performer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, achieved widespread traction on social media in October, in part due to its polished soul vocals by an uncredited woman vocalist.

Although its success and potential top 40 position in both UK and US, the song was later banned by major streaming platforms after music organizations sent takedown requests, stating it violated copyright by imitating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been re-released with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original recording was generated with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Larger Issue in Play

"The situation isn't just about one artist. This is larger than one artist or one song," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "both versions of the song infringe on Jorja's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the creative output of all the writers with whom she works."

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

Suggesting that her fans were potentially deceived by Haven's original release, the label added: "Our industry cannot allow this to become the standard practice."

Creators Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The duo behind the song have publicly admitted utilizing AI in its production process.

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

In addition, the second member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a feminine quality".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they wrote and created the song themselves and have even provided files of their original computer files.

"It shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-powered vocal editing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"As a creator and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and remaining on the forefront of industry trends," he continued.

"In order to set the facts straight, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans."

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Impact

While their original version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the replacement version did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

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

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially outpacing regulation".

"Computer-created material should be clearly labelled as such so that the audience may decide whether they consume it or not," the message continued.

Artists as 'Unintended Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her personal Instagram profile.

The post cautioned that artists and songwriters were becoming "collateral damage in the competition by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

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 assisted to compose the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it explained.

The Continuing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

The proliferation of algorithmically created music has been a source of both fascination and consternation for the music industry.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to help craft their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that listeners are not necessarily averse to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, though those cases have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will enable users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the program.

However, it remains unclear how many well-known musicians will consent to such applications of their work.

Recently, a group of renowned musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in opposition to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to develop models using protected work without securing a permission.