🔗 Share this article

The record label representing Brit Award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to claim a share of royalties from a track it claims was created using an AI "clone" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, gained massive popularity on TikTok last October, in part due to its smooth soul singing by an uncredited female vocalist.

Although its success and impending top 40 entry in both UK and US, the track was later removed by major music services after music bodies sent copyright notices, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has now been re-released with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original version was generated with AI programmed on her body of work and is now seeking appropriate compensation.

A Broader Principle in Play

"This is not only about Jorja. It's bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label wrote in a public statement.

FAMM further stated its belief that "both versions of the track violate the artist's rights and unjustly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she works."

Known for hits like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named British Female Solo Artist at the prestigious Brit Awards in 2019.

Suggesting that her supporters were possibly misled by Haven's first track, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to be the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Tools

The team responsible for the song have openly confirmed utilizing AI in its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the original vocals were actually his own but were heavily altered using AI music software Suno, often referred to as the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "apply our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they composed and created the song themselves and have even shared files of their source computer files.

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

"Being a creator and maker, I enjoy using new tools, 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 aim to do is make enjoyable music for other humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Industry Impact

Although their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the replacement version did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

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

The label stated it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is advancing at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing legal oversight".

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

Artists as 'Unintended Victims'

Smith shared her label's position on her own social media page.

The text cautioned that artists and songwriters were becoming "collateral damage in the competition by governments and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

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

"If we are able in establishing that AI assisted to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

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

• In the summer, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, showing that audiences are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the world's major largest record labels, but those cases have now been settled.

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

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

Recently, a collective of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of empty studios in opposition to potential changes to intellectual property regulations.

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