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The record label representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a share of royalties from a track it claims was produced using an AI "clone" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, gained massive popularity on TikTok in October, partly due to its smooth soul vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

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

Even though 'I Run' has now been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original recording was generated with AI programmed on her extensive work and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Broader Issue at Stake

"This is not only about Jorja. This is bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a recent announcement.

FAMM also stated its view that "both versions of the track violate the artist's rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the writers with whom she works."

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

Implying that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first release, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to be the standard practice."

Creators Admit Employing AI Technology

The team behind the track have publicly admitted utilizing AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the initial vocals were actually his own but were heavily altered using music-generation platform Suno, often called the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a feminine quality".

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

"It is no mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal editing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"Being a creator and maker, I like experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Industry Impact

Although their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement version did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a critical test case for the entertainment sector's changing relationship with AI.

The label stated it had "a duty to speak up" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "rapid rate and significantly exceeding regulation".

"Computer-created content should be transparently identified as such so that the public may decide whether they listen to it or not," the statement added.

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

Smith shared her label's statement on her own Instagram page.

The text cautioned that artists and creators were turning into "collateral damage in the race by governments and corporations towards AI supremacy".

It also stated that the label would share any awarded songwriting credits with the collaborators behind Smith's music.

"If we are successful in establishing that AI assisted 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 Continuing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In the summer, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, showing that listeners are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for alleged violations by the world's three biggest record labels, though those cases have since been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the firm, which will allow users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who agree to the program.

However, it is unclear how many established artists will consent to such applications of their work.

Recently, a collective of renowned musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or recordings of empty studios in protest to potential revisions to copyright law.

They contend these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to train models using protected work without obtaining a permission.