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The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has stated its intention to receive a share of royalties from a song it claims was created using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's unique vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media in October, in part due to its smooth soul vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

Despite its success and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by major music services after industry organizations sent takedown requests, alleging it violated copyright by imitating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the initial version was generated with AI trained on her body of recordings and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Larger Issue in Play

"This is not only about Jorja. This is bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also stated its view that "both iterations of the song violate Jorja's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she works."

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

Implying that her supporters were possibly misled by Haven's first track, the label concluded: "We cannot permit this to be the new normal."

Producers Admit Employing AI Tools

The duo behind the track have publicly admitted utilizing AI in its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original vocals were in fact his own but were heavily altered using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "advanced tool for music".

In addition, the other member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine tone".

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

"It shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to convert exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

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

"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 Gray Areas and Broader Impact

While their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the new version did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a significant test case for the music industry's changing interaction with AI.

The label stated it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"Computer-created material should be transparently labelled as such so that the public may decide whether they listen to it or not," the message continued.

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

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

The post cautioned that artists and creators were becoming "unintended casualties in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It also stated that the label would distribute any potential royalties with the collaborators behind Smith's music.

"Should we are successful in establishing that AI assisted to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

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

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily averse to consuming AI-made music.
• Suno was last year taken to court for alleged violations by the industry's major largest record labels, though those cases have since been resolved.

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

However, it remains unclear how many well-known musicians will consent to such applications of their identity.

Recently, a collective of renowned artists such as 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 proposed revisions to copyright law.

They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without obtaining a permission.