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The music company representing Brit Award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a share of royalties from a track it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the singer's distinctive voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained massive traction on TikTok in October, partly due to its smooth soul vocals by an unnamed woman singer.

Although its momentum and potential chart entry in both UK and US, the song was subsequently removed by leading streaming platforms after industry bodies sent copyright requests, alleging it violated intellectual property law by impersonating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the initial version was generated with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking financial redress.

A Broader Issue at Stake

"The situation isn't just about one artist. It's bigger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a public announcement.

FAMM further expressed its view that "each versions of the track infringe on the artist's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

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

Implying that her supporters were possibly misled by Haven's original release, the label added: "We must not allow this to be the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Technology

The team behind the song have publicly admitted using AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the initial voice were actually his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine quality".

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

"This is no mystery that I used AI-powered vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

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

"To set the record straight, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we aim to do is make enjoyable music for other humans."

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Impact

Although their original version of 'I Run' was blocked from major charts, the new version did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a significant precedent for the music industry's evolving interaction with AI.

The label stated it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and significantly exceeding legal oversight".

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

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

Smith shared her label's statement on her personal Instagram profile.

The post cautioned that artists and songwriters were becoming "collateral damage in the race by governments and corporations towards AI supremacy".

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

"If we are successful in establishing that AI helped to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would seek to assign every one of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of plays before revealing they used AI to aid develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that audiences are not always opposed to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music established a collaboration with the company, which will enable users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner acts who opt in to the program.

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

Just last week, a group of prominent musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or audio of quiet studios in protest to potential changes to copyright law.

They argue these amendments would make it simpler for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without obtaining a license.