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The record label representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a share of earnings from a track it asserts was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved massive traction on TikTok in October, partly due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Although its success and potential chart position in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by leading music services after industry organizations issued copyright notices, stating it breached copyright by imitating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the initial version was made with AI trained on her extensive work and is now pursuing appropriate compensation.

A Broader Principle at Stake

"The situation is not only about one artist. This is larger than a single performer or a single track," the label wrote in a recent statement.

FAMM further stated its view that "each versions of the track violate Jorja's rights and unjustly take advantage of the creative output of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her fans were possibly deceived by Haven's first release, the label concluded: "We must not allow this to become the standard practice."

Creators Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The duo responsible for the track have publicly admitted using AI in its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine tone".

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

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

"Being a creator and producer, I like using new tools, methods and remaining on the cutting edge of what's happening," he added.

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Industry Impact

While their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the replacement version managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

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

The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially outpacing legal oversight".

"Computer-created material should be clearly identified as such so that the public may choose whether they consume it or not," the statement added.

Artists as 'Collateral Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her own Instagram profile.

The post warned that musicians and songwriters were turning into "unintended casualties in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It further stated that the label would distribute any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are successful in proving that AI assisted to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would seek to assign every one of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it explained.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of streams before revealing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the world's major biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the program.

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

Recently, a group of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing silent songs or recordings of empty studios in protest to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these amendments would make it simpler for AI companies to develop systems using copyrighted work without securing a license.