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The record label representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a share of earnings from a track it claims was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's unique voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained massive traction on social media last October, in part due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and impending chart entry in both UK and US, the track was later removed by leading music services after industry bodies issued copyright notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has now been re-released with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial version was made with AI trained on her body of work and is now pursuing appropriate compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"The situation is not only about Jorja. It's bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "each iterations of the song violate Jorja's rights and unjustly take advantage of the creative output of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

Famous for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named British Female Solo Artist 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 Using AI Technology

The team responsible for the song have openly admitted utilizing AI in its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the initial voice were actually his own but were extensively manipulated using AI music platform Suno, often called the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a female tone".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they composed and created the song themselves and have even provided files of their original computer files.

"This shouldn't be secret that I used AI-powered vocal editing to convert exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a creator and maker, I enjoy using new tools, methods and staying on the cutting edge of what's happening," he added.

"To set the facts straight, the artists behind HAVEN are real and people, and all we want to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Industry Implications

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

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a critical test case for the entertainment sector's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "alarming rate and substantially outpacing legal oversight".

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

Artists as 'Collateral Damage'

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

The text cautioned that artists and creators were becoming "unintended casualties in the race by policymakers and corporations towards AI supremacy".

It also stated that the label would share any potential songwriting credits with the collaborators behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are successful in establishing that AI assisted to write the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to assign every one of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before disclosing they used AI to aid develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for alleged violations by the world's major largest record labels, though those legal actions have now been settled.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who agree to the service.

However, it is uncertain how many well-known musicians will agree to such applications of their identity.

Just last week, a group of renowned musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or audio of quiet studios in protest to proposed revisions to intellectual property regulations.

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