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The record label representing Brit Award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to claim a portion of royalties from a track it claims was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's unique vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, gained widespread popularity on social media in October, in part due to its polished soul singing by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and impending top 40 position in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by major music services after industry bodies sent takedown requests, alleging it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original version was made with AI programmed on her body of recordings and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Larger Issue in Play

"The situation is not only 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 "both iterations of the track infringe on the artist's rights and unjustly take advantage of the work of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

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

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

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Tools

The team behind the track have publicly admitted utilizing AI during its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the initial vocals were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation platform Suno, sometimes called the "advanced tool for music".

In addition, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and produced the music themselves and have even provided evidence of their original computer files.

"It is no mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal editing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a creator and maker, I like experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and staying on the forefront of industry trends," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their original version of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the replacement version did break into the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a significant test case for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "an obligation to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and significantly exceeding regulation".

"AI-generated material should be clearly identified as such so that the audience may choose whether they listen to it or not," the message continued.

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

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

The text warned that artists and songwriters were turning into "unintended casualties in the competition by policymakers and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"Should we are successful 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 assign each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a topic of both fascination and anxiety for the music industry.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of streams before revealing they used AI to help craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not always averse to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the world's major biggest record labels, but those cases have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the company, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who opt in to the service.

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

Just last week, a group of prominent musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or audio of quiet studios in opposition to proposed revisions to copyright law.

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