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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a share of royalties from a track it claims was created using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the singer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved massive popularity on social media last October, partly due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed woman singer.

Although its success and potential chart entry in the UK and US, the song was later banned by major streaming platforms after music organizations issued takedown notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another artist.

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

A Broader Principle at Stake

"The situation isn't just about Jorja. It's bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a recent announcement.

FAMM further expressed its belief that "both versions of the track infringe on Jorja's rights and unfairly take advantage of the creative output of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

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 fans were potentially deceived by Haven's first track, the label concluded: "Our industry cannot permit this to be the new normal."

Creators Admit Employing AI Tools

The team responsible for the track have publicly confirmed using AI in its production process.

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

In addition, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they wrote and produced the song themselves and have even shared files of their source production sessions.

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

"Being a creator and producer, I like experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their first release of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the new version managed to break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical precedent for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "an obligation to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially outpacing regulation".

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

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

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

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

It also stated that the label would share any potential royalties with the collaborators behind Smith's music.

"If we are able in establishing that AI assisted to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would aim to assign every one of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In the summer, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before disclosing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" called Breaking Rust led a US genre digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the industry's three largest record labels, though those legal actions have now been settled.

Subsequently, 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 remains uncertain how many well-known artists will agree to such uses of their work.

Just last week, a collective of renowned musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in protest to potential changes to copyright law.

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