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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a share of royalties from a track it claims was produced using an AI "replica" of the singer's unique vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, achieved massive popularity on TikTok last October, partly due to its polished soul singing by an unnamed female vocalist.

Although its success and potential chart entry in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by leading streaming platforms after industry organizations sent takedown requests, alleging it violated intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the original recording was generated with AI trained on her extensive work and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Broader Issue in Play

"The situation is not only about Jorja. This is larger than a single performer or one song," the label wrote in a recent announcement.

FAMM further stated its view that "each iterations of the track infringe on the artist's legal rights and unjustly benefit from the creative output 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 annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Suggesting that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first track, the label added: "Our industry cannot allow this to be the standard practice."

Producers Acknowledge Employing AI Tools

The duo responsible for the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation software Suno, sometimes referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

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

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

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

"Being a creator and producer, I enjoy using new tools, techniques and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Industry Impact

Although their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the new recording did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

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

The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding legal oversight".

"Computer-created content should be clearly identified as such so that the public may choose whether they consume it or not," the statement added.

Artists as 'Unintended Damage'

Smith shared her label's position on her own Instagram page.

The text warned that musicians and songwriters were becoming "collateral damage in the competition by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It further noted that the label would distribute any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's music.

"If we are successful in proving that AI helped to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to assign each of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not always averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's major biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music established a collaboration with the company, which will allow users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

Yet, it is unclear how many established artists will consent to such applications of their work.

Recently, a group of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or recordings of empty studios in opposition to proposed changes to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using copyrighted work without securing a permission.