Malcolm Werchota
13 December 2025
21m 36s
E98: Suno - Who Owns an AI Voice? The True Story Behind TikTok’s Viral Hit “I Run”
00:00
21:36

Malcolm Werchota
13 December 2025
21m 36s
00:00
21:36
An AI-generated country song just hit #1 in the US. At the same time, a viral TikTok hit with nearly 40 million views was pulled from streaming after accusations that the vocalist’s voice was AI-cloned from a real artist—without permission.
Welcome to the chaos of AI-generated music.
In this episode, Malcolm unpacks the two stories redefining the music industry:
A track goes viral worldwide. Smooth vocals. Professional production. Then the takedown notices come.
The accusation: the vocals were generated with AI and cloned from an existing artist’s voice.
Labels accuse the creators of deception.
Creators say it was “just processing.”
But hashtags like #jorjasmith tell a different story.
When AI can replicate a vocal vibe so closely that millions think it’s the original artist, who owns the voice? The style? The aesthetic?
2024: Warner, Sony, and Universal sue Suno and Udio for mass copyright infringement.
2025: Warner settles—and becomes Suno’s strategic partner.
Suddenly AI music isn’t theft.
It’s a “victory for the creative community.”
Add in Nvidia investing in Suno, 100 million users making AI music, and Spotify refusing to ban AI tracks… and you can see where the industry is heading.
Malcolm shares a personal story about making a Suno-generated goodbye song for a teammate—one that made her cry.
It raises the central question:
When is AI replacing creativity?
And when is it augmenting it?
Malcolm argues for three essential guardrails:
Right now, none of these rules exist.
This episode is for anyone who cares about:
music, creativity, ethics, AI regulation, or just understanding the cultural earthquake happening right under our feet.
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AI music, AI vocal cloning, Suno AI, AI music ethics, AI copyright, AI-generated vocals, TikTok AI music, Warner Suno deal