🔗 Share this article

The music company representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a track it claims was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, achieved massive traction on TikTok last October, partly due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed woman singer.

Although its momentum and potential top 40 position in both UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by major music services after industry organizations issued takedown notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the original version was made with AI programmed on her body of work and is now seeking financial redress.

A Broader Issue in Play

"This is not only about one artist. It's larger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a recent announcement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "both versions of the song violate Jorja's rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

Famous for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was crowned British Female Solo Artist at the annual Brit Awards in 2019.

Implying that her fans were possibly misled by Haven's original release, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to become the standard practice."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Tools

The team behind the track have openly confirmed utilizing AI in its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the initial voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using AI music software Suno, sometimes called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the other producer, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine tone".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they composed and created the song themselves and have even shared files of their original production sessions.

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

"Being a songwriter and producer, I enjoy using innovative technologies, methods and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

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

Legal Uncertainty and Broader Implications

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

FAMM has framed the incident as a critical test case for the entertainment sector's evolving interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "an obligation to speak up" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and substantially outpacing regulation".

"Computer-created material should be transparently identified as such so that the audience may decide whether they listen to it or not," the statement added.

Artists as 'Unintended Damage'

Smith shared her label's statement on her personal Instagram page.

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

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

"Should we are able in proving that AI assisted to compose the words and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to aid craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the industry's major largest record labels, though those cases have now been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the program.

However, it remains uncertain how a large number of established artists will agree to such applications of their identity.

Recently, a collective of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring silent songs or audio of empty studios in protest to potential changes to copyright law.

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