Pop Vocalist the Artist's Music Label Takes a Firm Position Against Viral 'AI Clone' Track

The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a track it asserts was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved massive traction on TikTok last October, partly due to its smooth R&B singing by an unnamed female singer.

Although its success and potential top 40 entry in the UK and US, the track was later banned by leading music services after music organizations sent takedown notices, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another musician.

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

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This isn't just about one artist. It's bigger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a recent announcement.

FAMM also stated its belief that "both versions of the song violate Jorja's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of the creative output of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her supporters were potentially misled by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "We must not allow this to be the standard practice."

Creators Admit Using AI Tools

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

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

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

Donaghue and Walker assert that they composed and produced the music themselves and have even shared evidence of their original computer files.

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

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

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Broader Implications

Although their original release of 'I Run' was blocked from official charts, the new version managed to enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has framed the incident as a significant test case for the entertainment sector's changing relationship with AI.

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

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

Creators Become 'Collateral Damage'

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

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

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

"Should we are successful in proving that AI assisted to write the words and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to assign each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Rise of AI Music

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

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not always opposed to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the industry's three biggest record labels, but those legal actions have since been settled.

Following this, Warner Music established a partnership with the company, which will allow users to create songs using the voices, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the program.

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

Just last week, 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 audio of empty studios in opposition to proposed changes to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these changes would make it easier for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without securing a license.