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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a portion of royalties from a song it asserts was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the performer's distinctive vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media last October, in part due to its smooth soul vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and potential chart entry in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by leading streaming platforms after industry bodies sent takedown requests, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial recording was made with AI trained on her extensive work and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Larger Principle in Play

"This isn't just about Jorja. It's larger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a recent statement.

FAMM further expressed its view that "each versions of the song violate the artist's legal rights and unjustly benefit from the creative output of all the songwriters with whom she works."

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 fans were potentially misled by Haven's original track, the label concluded: "Our industry cannot allow this to be the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The duo responsible for the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the original voice were actually his own but were extensively altered using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

In addition, the second producer, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female tone".

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

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

"As a songwriter and maker, I like using innovative technologies, methods and remaining on the cutting edge of what's happening," he added.

"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 Uncertainty and Industry Impact

Although their original version of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement recording managed to break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical precedent for the music industry's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing regulation".

"Computer-created material should be transparently identified as such so that the audience may decide whether they consume it or not," the message continued.

Creators Become 'Collateral Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her personal Instagram page.

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

It also noted that the label would distribute any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's music.

"Should we are successful in proving that AI helped to compose the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would aim to assign each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a source of both interest and consternation for the music industry.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not always opposed to consuming AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the industry's major largest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music established a collaboration with the company, which will enable users to create songs using the voices, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who agree to the program.

Yet, it is uncertain how many established artists will agree to such uses of their work.

Recently, a collective of prominent musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in protest to potential revisions to copyright law.

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