Pop Singer Jorja Smith's Music Label Takes Firm Position Regarding Viral 'Artificial Intelligence Clone' Song

The music company representing Brit Award-winning artist Jorja Smith has stated its desire to receive a portion of earnings from a track it claims was produced using an AI "replica" of the singer's distinctive voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media last October, in part due to its polished soul singing by an unnamed female singer.

Despite its momentum and impending chart entry in both UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by major streaming platforms after music organizations issued takedown requests, alleging it violated copyright by imitating another musician.

Even though 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial recording was generated with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking financial redress.

A Larger Issue in Play

"The situation isn't just about one artist. It's bigger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a recent announcement.

FAMM further stated its view that "each iterations of the song infringe on the artist's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of the work 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 supporters were possibly deceived by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "We must not allow this to become the new normal."

Producers Admit Employing AI Tools

The duo responsible for the song have openly admitted utilizing AI during its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the initial vocals were actually his own but were heavily altered using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine quality".

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

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

"Being a creator and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and remaining on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

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

Legal Uncertainty and Industry Impact

While their original version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the replacement recording did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a significant test case for the music industry's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "alarming rate and significantly exceeding regulation".

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

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her personal Instagram page.

The post warned that artists and songwriters were turning into "collateral damage in the race by governments and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

It also noted that the label would share any potential royalties with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"If we are able in establishing that AI helped to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to assign each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of plays before disclosing they used AI to help craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year taken to court for alleged violations by the industry's major largest record labels, though 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 images of Warner artists who agree to the program.

Yet, it remains unclear how a large number of established artists will agree to such applications of their work.

Recently, a collective of prominent artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in protest to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using protected work without obtaining a permission.