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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to receive a share of earnings from a song it asserts was created using an AI "replica" of the singer's unique vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, gained widespread popularity on TikTok in October, in part due to its smooth soul vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Although its success and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the track was subsequently removed by major streaming platforms after industry bodies sent takedown notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by imitating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has now been re-released with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the initial version was generated with AI trained on her extensive recordings and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This is not only about one artist. This is bigger than a single performer or one song," the label stated in a recent announcement.

FAMM further expressed its view that "both iterations of the track infringe on the artist's rights and unjustly take advantage of the creative output of all the writers with whom she works."

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

Implying that her supporters were possibly deceived by Haven's original track, the label added: "Our industry must not allow this to be the standard practice."

Creators Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The team responsible for the track have openly admitted using AI in its creation.

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

In addition, the second 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 wrote and produced the music themselves and have even provided files of their source production sessions.

"This is no mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"Being a songwriter and maker, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and staying on the forefront of industry trends," he continued.

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Broader Implications

While their first release of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the replacement version managed to break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical precedent for the entertainment sector's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

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

"AI-generated material should be transparently labelled as such so that the audience may decide whether they consume it or not," the message added.

Creators Become 'Unintended Victims'

Smith shared her label's position on her personal social media profile.

The post cautioned that musicians and creators 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 royalties with the collaborators behind Smith's catalogue.

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

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

The proliferation of algorithmically created music has been a source of both interest and anxiety for the entertainment world.

• In the summer, the group 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 country digital song sales chart, showing that listeners are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year taken to court for copyright infringement by the industry's three largest record labels, but those cases have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music established a partnership with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

Yet, it remains unclear how a large number of well-known musicians will agree to such applications of their work.

Recently, a collective of prominent musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or recordings of quiet studios in opposition to potential changes to copyright law.

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