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The record label representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a portion of earnings from a song it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained widespread popularity on TikTok in October, in part due to its polished soul singing by an uncredited female vocalist.

Despite its success and impending top 40 position in the UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by major streaming platforms after industry bodies sent copyright requests, alleging it breached copyright by imitating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has since been re-released with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the initial version was generated with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Larger Principle in Play

"The situation is not only about Jorja. It's larger than a single performer or one song," the label wrote in a public announcement.

FAMM also stated its view that "each iterations of the track violate Jorja's legal rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her supporters were possibly misled by Haven's original track, the label added: "Our industry cannot permit this to be the standard practice."

Creators Admit Employing AI Tools

The team responsible for the song have openly admitted utilizing AI during its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the original voice were actually his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation platform Suno, sometimes referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

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

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

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

"As a songwriter and maker, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

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

Legal Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their original release of 'I Run' was blocked from major rankings, the new recording managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

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

The label stated it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "alarming rate and substantially exceeding legal oversight".

"AI-generated content should be transparently identified as such so that the public may decide whether they consume it or not," the message added.

Artists as 'Collateral Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her own Instagram profile.

The text cautioned that musicians and songwriters were turning into "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

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

"Should we are able in proving that AI helped to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would aim to assign every one of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that listeners are not always averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the industry's major biggest record labels, but those legal actions have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the company, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who agree to the service.

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

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

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