Soul Singer the Artist's Music Company Takes Firm Position Against Popular 'AI Clone' Track

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

The track, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved massive popularity on TikTok in October, partly due to its smooth soul vocals by an uncredited woman singer.

Despite its success and impending chart position in both UK and US, the track was later removed by major streaming platforms after industry organizations issued copyright requests, stating it breached copyright by imitating another artist.

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

A Larger Issue in Play

"The situation is not only about one artist. This is larger than a single performer or one song," the label stated in a recent statement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "both iterations of the song infringe on the artist's rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

Famous for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was crowned British Female Solo Artist at the prestigious Brit Awards in 2019.

Implying that her supporters were potentially misled by Haven's first track, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to be the new normal."

Creators Acknowledge Using AI Technology

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

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the initial voice were actually his own but were extensively altered using AI music platform Suno, sometimes called the "ChatGPT for music".

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

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

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

"As a songwriter and maker, I like using innovative technologies, methods and remaining on the cutting edge of what's happening," he added.

"In order to set the record straight, the people behind HAVEN are actual and people, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Industry Implications

Although their first version of 'I Run' was blocked from major charts, the new recording did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

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

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "alarming rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"Computer-created material should be transparently identified as such so that the public may choose whether they listen to it or not," the statement added.

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

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

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

It further stated that the label would share any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's music.

"Should we are able in proving that AI helped to write the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would aim to allocate every one of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a source of both interest and anxiety for the music industry.

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of plays before revealing they used AI to help develop their musical style.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US country sales chart, showing that listeners are not necessarily averse to consuming AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the world's three largest record labels, though those cases have now been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music established a partnership with the company, which will enable users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the service.

However, it remains unclear how many established artists will agree to such uses of their work.

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 audio of empty studios in opposition to potential changes to intellectual property regulations.

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