‘I Run’ Has Now Been Ripped Down by Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. It’s Also Been Disqualified by Billboard and the UK Official Charts Company

“I Run” by HAVEN became a fast-surging viral hit. Now, it’s quickly disappearing from DSPs for its alleged use of Suno AI to distort the vocals to sound like another artist.

On TikTok, people were calling it the ‘Song of the Year’. But then it quickly vanished from Spotify and other streaming platforms amid claims that the vocals were AI-generated. Now, a new version has popped up with a seemingly different vocalist and updated credits, but it’s unclear whether these new credits merely reflect a cover version.

The run-up on “I Run” has been dizzying. The dance track rapidly became a hit after it seemingly appeared out of thin air from a previously unknown artist called HAVEN. The song racked up over 13 million streams on Spotify before suddenly being yanked from the platform, with Apple Music also removing the track. A Spotify spokesperson confirmed the removal, noting that the company “strictly prohibits artist impersonation.”

So who’s being impersonated? Well, amid the mysteries surrounding the song’s origins, fans have been wondering who the vocalist could be. Astute listeners remarked how similar the vocals sounded to those of British singer-songwriter Jorja Smith. But the artist quickly denied involvement.

According to London-based producer Harrison Walker, who has since identified himself as the artist behind HAVEN., the vocals are actually his own voice heavily processed. However, the debate over whether the track used AI continued. Finally, the track’s audio engineer, Matt Cahill, confirmed that Walker’s vocals had been fed through Suno, the controversial generative AI platform.

What about the new version? That’s where things get even more confusing.

Kaitlin Aragon’s name now appears on the credits to “I Run,” even though the song has been removed from more DSPs, including YouTube Music. But Aragon previously uploaded a video to TikTok in which she performed a self-described cover of the track; it’s still not clear if the credit change reflects the cover version, or a new version using Aragon’s vocals.

According to Billboard, HAVEN. is now preparing to release a re-recording of the track featuring Kaitlin Aragon, which is why the credits have been updated, but that version is evidently still in the works. The version now being circulated is reportedly a mashup of the original using Aragon’s TikTok vocals.

Regardless, the song remains removed from major DSPs, and has also been withheld from the Billboard charts and the UK Official Charts Company.

But the buzz surrounding the track proliferates; the original vocals sounding remarkably like Jorja Smith raises questions about the ethical nature of the vocal processing. Meanwhile, Suno is already in the midst of a blockbuster lawsuit with the Big Three majors (Sony, Universal, and Warner).

“I think this ought to be a wake up call for people to look at the status of the NO FAKES Act and to deal with how long it will take to get that moving and into a national uniform law,” said Kenneth Anderson, an attorney at Rimon Law, who recently advised musician Ben Folds in a matter concerning deepfakes.

“We have a problem that is rapidly overtaking the music industry. It’s rampant and increasing.”