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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its intention to claim a portion of earnings from a song it asserts was produced using an AI "clone" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved widespread popularity on TikTok in October, in part due to its polished R&B singing by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and impending chart position in both UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by major streaming platforms after industry organizations sent takedown requests, alleging it breached intellectual property law by imitating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has since been re-released with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial version was generated with AI trained on her body of work and is now pursuing appropriate compensation.

A Broader Issue at Stake

"The situation isn't just about one artist. It's larger than one artist or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "each iterations of the song infringe on the artist's rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she works."

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 supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first release, the label concluded: "We must not allow this to be the new normal."

Creators Acknowledge Using AI Tools

The duo behind the track have openly admitted using AI in its production process.

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

In addition, the second member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a feminine tone".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they composed and produced the music themselves and have even shared evidence of their source production sessions.

"This is no mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal editing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a songwriter and maker, I enjoy using innovative technologies, methods and remaining on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

While their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the replacement version 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 interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing legal oversight".

"AI-generated content should be transparently labelled as such so that the audience may choose whether they listen to it or not," the statement added.

Artists as 'Unintended Damage'

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

The text cautioned that artists and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the competition by governments and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It further 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 compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would aim to allocate every one of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

The emergence of algorithmically created music has been a source of both fascination and anxiety for the entertainment world.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before disclosing they used AI to help develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US genre sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three largest record labels, though those cases have since been settled.

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

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

Just last week, a collective of prominent musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of empty studios in opposition to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these amendments would make it simpler for AI companies to develop systems using copyrighted work without securing a permission.