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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its intention to claim a share of royalties from a song it claims was created using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's unique vocal style.

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

Although its momentum and impending top 40 position in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by major music services after music bodies sent takedown requests, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the original version was made with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking financial compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This isn't just about Jorja. It's larger than one artist or a single track," the label stated in a recent announcement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "each iterations of the track violate the artist's legal rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she works."

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

Implying that her supporters were possibly misled by Haven's original track, the label added: "We cannot permit this to be the new normal."

Producers Admit Using AI Technology

The team behind the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI in its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the initial voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female quality".

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

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

"Being a creator and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, techniques and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

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

Legal Gray Areas and Industry Impact

While their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from major rankings, the new version managed to enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a significant precedent for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with AI.

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 regulation".

"Computer-created content should be clearly labelled as such so that the audience may choose whether they listen to it or not," the statement continued.

Creators Become 'Collateral Victims'

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

The post cautioned that musicians and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the competition by policymakers and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

It further stated that the label would distribute any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's music.

"Should we are successful in establishing that AI assisted to write the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion 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 emergence of algorithmically created music has been a source of both interest and anxiety for the music industry.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of streams before revealing they used AI to aid craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" called Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the industry's major largest record labels, but those cases have now been resolved.

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

Yet, it is unclear how many established musicians will consent to such uses of their work.

Recently, a group of renowned musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or recordings of empty studios in opposition to proposed changes to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to train systems using protected work without obtaining a license.