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The music company representing Brit Award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a portion of earnings from a track it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the singer's unique voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media last October, in part due to its smooth R&B vocals by an uncredited woman singer.

Despite its momentum and impending chart entry in both UK and US, the song was subsequently removed by leading music services after industry bodies sent takedown requests, alleging it breached intellectual property law by imitating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has now been re-released with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the original version was generated with AI programmed on her extensive work and is now seeking financial compensation.

A Broader Principle in Play

"This isn't just about Jorja. This is larger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a recent announcement.

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

Suggesting that her fans were possibly misled by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "Our industry must not allow this to be the new normal."

Producers Admit Using AI Technology

The team behind the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI in its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the original vocals were actually his own but were heavily manipulated using AI music software Suno, sometimes referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

In addition, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "apply our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they composed and created the song themselves and have even provided files of their source production sessions.

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

"Being a creator and producer, I enjoy using new tools, methods and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Broader Impact

Although their original version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the new version did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

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

The label argued it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"AI-generated content should be transparently identified as such so that the public may choose whether they consume it or not," the statement continued.

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

Smith shared her label's statement on her own Instagram profile.

The post warned that musicians and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the race by policymakers and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"If we are able in establishing that AI helped to write the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would seek to allocate every one of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

The emergence 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 revealing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not necessarily averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, but those legal actions have now been resolved.

Subsequently, Warner Music established a partnership with the company, which will enable users to create songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the program.

However, it is unclear how many well-known musicians will agree to such uses of their identity.

Just last week, a collective of prominent artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in protest to proposed revisions to copyright law.

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