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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a song it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the singer's distinctive voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, gained widespread popularity on TikTok in October, in part due to its smooth R&B vocals by an uncredited female vocalist.

Although its success and potential top 40 entry in the UK and US, the song was later banned by major music services after music bodies issued copyright notices, alleging it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been re-released with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the original version was generated with AI trained on her body of recordings and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This is not only about one artist. This is larger than one artist or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its view that "each iterations of the song violate Jorja's rights and unjustly benefit from 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 fans were possibly misled by Haven's first track, the label added: "We must not allow this to become the standard practice."

Producers Admit Using AI Tools

The duo behind the song have openly admitted using AI during its production process.

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

In addition, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine tone".

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

"This shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"As a songwriter and producer, I enjoy using innovative technologies, techniques and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

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

Legal Gray Areas and Industry Implications

While their original release of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement recording managed to break into the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the incident as a significant precedent for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "an obligation to speak up" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is advancing at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"AI-generated material should be clearly identified as such so that the audience may decide whether they consume it or not," the statement continued.

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her own social media page.

The text warned that musicians and creators were becoming "collateral damage in the competition by policymakers and corporations towards AI dominance".

It also noted that the label would share any potential royalties with the collaborators behind Smith's music.

"If we are able in proving that AI assisted to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would aim to allocate every one of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

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

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that audiences are not always averse to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the world's major largest record labels, though those cases have now been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the company, which will enable users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who agree to the service.

However, it is uncertain how many well-known artists will agree to such uses of their work.

Recently, a collective of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or recordings of quiet studios in protest to potential changes to intellectual property regulations.

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