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

The song, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved massive popularity on TikTok last October, in part due to its smooth soul singing by an uncredited female singer.

Although its success and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by major streaming platforms after music organizations sent takedown notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by imitating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the original version was made with AI programmed on her extensive work and is now pursuing appropriate compensation.

A Larger Principle in Play

"This is not only about one artist. It's larger than a single performer or a single track," the label wrote in a public statement.

FAMM also expressed its view that "both iterations of the song violate Jorja's legal rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

Famous for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named Best British Female at the annual 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 standard practice."

Producers Admit Employing AI Technology

The duo responsible for the song have openly admitted utilizing AI in its creation.

Songwriter 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 producer, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a female tone".

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

"It shouldn't be secret that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"Being a songwriter and maker, I enjoy experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and staying on the forefront of industry trends," he added.

"In order to set the record clear, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Legal Gray Areas and Industry Implications

While their original version of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the new recording managed to enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a significant test case for the entertainment sector's evolving interaction with artificial intelligence.

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

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

Artists as 'Collateral Damage'

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

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

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

"If we are able in establishing that AI helped to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Growth of AI Music

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

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of plays before revealing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that listeners are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, but those cases have now been settled.

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

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

Recently, a group of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in opposition to potential changes to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to train systems using protected work without securing a license.