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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a portion of earnings from a song it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, gained massive traction on TikTok last October, partly due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

Although its momentum and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the song was later banned by major music services after industry bodies issued takedown notices, alleging it breached intellectual property law by imitating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the original version was made with AI programmed on her body of recordings and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Broader Issue at Stake

"This isn't just about one artist. This is bigger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a recent statement.

FAMM further expressed its belief that "both versions of the track violate Jorja's rights and unjustly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her fans were potentially misled by Haven's first track, the label added: "We cannot permit this to be the new normal."

Creators Admit Employing AI Tools

The duo behind the track have openly admitted utilizing AI during its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were heavily altered using AI music software Suno, sometimes called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female tone".

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

"This is no secret that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a songwriter and maker, I like experimenting with new tools, techniques and remaining on the cutting edge of what's happening," he added.

"In order to set the facts clear, the people behind HAVEN are actual and people, and all we want to do is make enjoyable music for other humans."

Regulatory Gray Areas and Industry Impact

While their original release of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement version did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a critical precedent for the entertainment sector's evolving relationship with AI.

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

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

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her personal social media profile.

The text cautioned that artists and songwriters were turning into "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"If we are able in establishing that AI assisted to write the lyrics 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 pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

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

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before revealing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

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 agree to the service.

However, it is uncertain how many well-known artists will consent to such applications of their identity.

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

They argue these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to train systems using copyrighted work without securing a license.