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The music company representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a portion of royalties from a track it asserts was produced using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's distinctive voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, achieved massive popularity on TikTok in October, partly due to its polished soul singing by an uncredited woman singer.

Despite its success and impending chart position in both UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by leading streaming platforms after music bodies sent copyright notices, alleging it violated copyright by impersonating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has since been re-released with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial version was made with AI programmed on her body of work and is now seeking appropriate redress.

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 wrote in a recent announcement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "each iterations of the track infringe on Jorja's legal rights and unfairly 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 British Female Solo Artist at the annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Suggesting that her fans were potentially deceived by Haven's first release, the label added: "Our industry must not allow this to become the standard practice."

Producers Acknowledge Employing AI Tools

The duo responsible for the song have openly confirmed using AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the initial voice were in fact his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second 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 maintain that they composed and created the music themselves and have even provided files of their original computer files.

"This is no mystery that I used AI-powered vocal editing to convert exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a creator and producer, I enjoy experimenting with innovative technologies, techniques and remaining on the cutting edge of what's happening," he continued.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from major rankings, the new version did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a significant test case for the music industry's evolving relationship with AI.

The label stated it had "an obligation to speak up" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

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

Artists as 'Unintended Damage'

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

The text warned that musicians and creators were turning into "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It also noted that the label would share any potential royalties with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are able in establishing 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 pro-rata share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before disclosing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust led a US genre sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for alleged violations by the world's three largest record labels, but those legal actions have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who agree to the service.

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

Recently, a group of prominent musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in opposition to proposed changes to copyright law.

They contend these amendments would make it simpler for AI companies to develop models using protected work without obtaining a license.