🔗 Share this article

The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a share of earnings from a track it claims was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's distinctive vocal style.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, achieved massive popularity on TikTok last October, in part due to its polished R&B singing by an uncredited woman vocalist.

Although its success and potential top 40 entry in both UK and US, the track was later removed by leading streaming platforms after industry organizations issued copyright notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by imitating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has since been re-released with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial recording was made with AI trained on her extensive work and is now pursuing appropriate redress.

A Larger Issue in Play

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

FAMM further stated its view that "each versions of the song violate Jorja's legal rights and unjustly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she works."

Famous for songs 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 deceived by Haven's original track, the label concluded: "We cannot allow this to become the new normal."

Producers Admit Using AI Technology

The duo responsible for the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI in its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the initial voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using music-generation platform Suno, sometimes called the "advanced tool for music".

In addition, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a feminine tone".

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

"This is no mystery that I used AI-powered vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

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

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

Regulatory Gray Areas and Broader Implications

Although their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the new version did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has framed the incident as a significant test case for the music industry's changing interaction with AI.

The label argued it had "an obligation to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "alarming rate and significantly outpacing legal oversight".

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

Creators Become 'Unintended Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her own social media profile.

The text warned that artists and songwriters were turning into "unintended casualties in the competition by governments and corporations towards AI supremacy".

It further noted that the label would distribute any potential songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's music.

"If we are successful in establishing that AI helped to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would aim to allocate every one of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

The emergence of algorithmically created music has been a source of both fascination and consternation for the music industry.

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

Following this, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the firm, which will enable users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who agree to the service.

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

Recently, a collective of renowned artists including 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 potential changes to copyright law.

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