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The record label representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a share of earnings from a track it claims was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's distinctive voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, achieved massive popularity on social media in October, partly due to its smooth soul vocals by an uncredited woman vocalist.

Although its success and impending chart entry in the UK and US, the song was subsequently removed by major streaming platforms after industry bodies sent takedown requests, stating it violated copyright by impersonating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has now been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the original version was made with AI trained on her extensive work and is now pursuing financial compensation.

A Broader Issue at Stake

"The situation isn't just about one artist. This is larger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a recent statement.

FAMM also stated its view that "each iterations of the track violate Jorja's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of 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 annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Suggesting that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first track, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to become the new normal."

Producers Admit Using AI Tools

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

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the original vocals were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they wrote and created the music themselves and have even provided files of their original computer files.

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

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

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Industry Impact

Although their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official rankings, the replacement version managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a critical test case for the music industry's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

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

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

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

Smith shared her label's position on her own social media profile.

The text warned that artists and creators were turning into "unintended casualties in the race by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"If we are successful in establishing that AI helped to write the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to help craft their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" called Breaking Rust topped a US country digital song sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for alleged violations by the world's three largest record labels, though those cases have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the company, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the program.

Yet, it is uncertain how a large number of established artists will consent to such applications of their work.

Just last week, a group of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing silent songs or recordings of empty studios in opposition to potential revisions to copyright law.

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