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

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained massive traction on TikTok last October, partly due to its polished R&B singing by an uncredited female singer.

Despite its success and potential top 40 position in both UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by leading streaming platforms after industry organizations issued copyright requests, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another artist.

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

A Broader Principle in Play

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

FAMM also expressed its view that "each versions of the song violate the artist's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her supporters were possibly deceived by Haven's original release, the label added: "We cannot permit this to become the standard practice."

Creators Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The team responsible for the song have openly confirmed utilizing AI in its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were heavily altered using music-generation software Suno, sometimes called the "advanced tool for music".

In addition, the other producer, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female tone".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and produced the song themselves and have even provided files of their original production sessions.

"It shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-powered vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a creator and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and remaining on the forefront of industry trends," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Industry Implications

Although their original release of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the new recording managed to break into the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a significant test case for the music industry's changing relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially outpacing legal oversight".

"Computer-created material should be clearly labelled as such so that the audience may decide whether they consume it or not," the message added.

Creators Become 'Collateral Victims'

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

The text cautioned that artists and creators were becoming "collateral damage in the race by governments and tech firms towards AI dominance".

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

"Should we are successful in proving that AI helped to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

The emergence of algorithmically created music has been a source of both interest and anxiety for the entertainment world.

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the industry's three biggest record labels, though those cases have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music established a partnership with the firm, which will allow users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the service.

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

Just last week, a group of prominent musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or recordings of empty studios in opposition to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these changes would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using protected work without obtaining a permission.