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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a track it asserts 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 popularity on social media in October, in part due to its smooth soul singing by an uncredited woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and potential chart entry in the UK and US, the track was subsequently removed by major music services after industry bodies issued takedown requests, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has since been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial recording was made with AI trained on her extensive work and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Broader Principle in Play

"This is not only about one artist. It's larger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a public announcement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "each versions of the song violate the artist's legal rights and unjustly 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.

Suggesting that her fans were potentially deceived by Haven's original track, the label concluded: "Our industry cannot allow this to become the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Technology

The team responsible for the song have openly confirmed using AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine quality".

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

"This is no secret that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a songwriter and maker, I like experimenting with new tools, techniques and staying on the cutting edge of what's happening," he continued.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Impact

While their original version of 'I Run' was blocked from official rankings, the new recording managed to break into the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a critical precedent for the music industry's evolving relationship with AI.

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and significantly exceeding regulation".

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

Creators Become 'Collateral Victims'

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

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

It further noted that the label would distribute any potential royalties with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are able in proving that AI assisted to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it explained.

The Continuing Growth of AI Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a topic of both fascination and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of plays before revealing they used AI to aid craft their musical style.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not necessarily averse to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year taken to court for copyright infringement by the world's three largest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

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

However, it is unclear how a large number of well-known artists will agree to such applications of their identity.

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

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