🔗 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 performer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, gained massive popularity on social media last October, partly due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

Despite its momentum and impending top 40 position in both UK and US, the song was later banned by major music services after music bodies sent takedown notices, alleging it violated intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

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

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This isn't just about one artist. It's larger than one artist or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM further expressed its belief that "each versions of the song infringe on the artist's rights and unfairly 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.

Implying that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first release, the label concluded: "Our industry must not permit this to be the standard practice."

Producers Admit Using AI Technology

The duo responsible for the song have publicly confirmed using AI during its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the initial voice were in fact his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation software Suno, often called the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "apply our original vocal a feminine quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and produced the music themselves and have even shared files of their original production sessions.

"It shouldn't be secret that I used AI-assisted vocal editing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"As a songwriter and producer, I enjoy using new tools, methods and staying on the forefront of industry trends," he continued.

"In order to set the record straight, the artists behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Regulatory Gray Areas and Broader Implications

Although their original 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 precedent for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and significantly exceeding legal oversight".

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

Creators Become 'Collateral Damage'

Smith shared her label's statement on her personal Instagram profile.

The post cautioned that musicians and creators were becoming "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"Should we are successful in proving that AI assisted to write the lyrics and melody 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 Continuing Rise of AI Music

The proliferation of algorithmically created music has been a source of both interest and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of plays before revealing they used AI to aid develop their musical style.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country digital song sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the world's major largest record labels, but those legal actions have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music established a partnership with the company, which will enable users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who opt in to the service.

Yet, it is unclear how a large number of established musicians will agree to such applications of their identity.

Just last week, a collective of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of empty studios in protest to proposed revisions to copyright law.

They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to train models using protected work without securing a permission.