Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Gene Simmons, renowned bassist, co-founder, and co-lead vocalist of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band KISS, provided testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Intellectual Property Subcommittee on Tuesday, December 9. The hearing focused on the American Music Fairness Act (S.326/H.R.861), legislation aimed at addressing the radio licensing loophole and requiring radio broadcasters to compensate performers for airplay.
During his seven-minute address, which is available in its entirety below, Simmons emphasized the significance of enacting legislation that mandates AM/FM radio stations to pay royalties to the copyright holders of the music they broadcast. This is what he stated, as per blabbermouth.net.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was happy to see many of you this Sunday where KISS, our little band, was honored at the Kennedy Center with President Trump. I’m proud to say I first met President Trump years before he got into politics. And I’m happy to remind everyone here in this room that our President Trump signed the Music Modernization Act in 2018. This bill updated copyright protection for the digital era.
The world is changing. We’ve got to stay ahead of the curve and legislators need to be informed on all of these things because, let’s face it, you do the work of the people. We elect you, and we hope and we expect you to do the will of the people.
I’m grateful to President Trump for his leadership on issues important to our artists past, present and future.
I’m here to kindly ask all of you, both Republicans and Democrats, to help us remedy a situation — an injustice, let’s call it for what it is, an injustice that’s been ongoing for many, many decades. I’m gonna tell you what I mean.
Bing Crosby recorded perhaps one of the biggest songs of all time, ‘White Christmas’. What’s more American than that? Written by Irving Berlin. It’s been on radio, AM and FM — later on FM; originally in AM — millions of times. Every Christmas we, and around the world, are listening to ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’. That’s America’s song. Everyone received money — the radio station sold advertising, the plumber who fixed the plumbing got paid, the disc jockey got paid. The only person that was never paid for the airplay was Bing Crosby, which is astonishing.
I wanna talk about why this is called the American Music — you gotta stop there — American Music Fairness Act. Yes, it’s an act that’s fair because there isn’t fairness ongoing right now, but it’s American music. America. Last time I checked Zimbabwe gave the world no music. I can’t sing you a French song, and nobody else. It’s America’s music that rules this planet. Elvis [Presley], baby, the king. Elvis, who sang hundreds and hundreds of songs, and I met the gentleman when he was alive, and sadly Elvis never got a penny for all the times, all the millions of times that his music was played around the world. If you go to Africa… you hear that music. That is our emissary. That’s bigger and cooler and better than any foreign minister that goes on. American culture spreads with our music, with our pop culture. Elvis never got a penny.
This bill, when it’s passed, ’cause the word ‘if’ is for losers… We are gonna pass this bill. It is bipartisan. You will do the will of the people because 70% of the United States of America in a recent poll said, ‘We want this injustice cured now and once and for all.’ Getting close to the finish line does not work… We’re only talking about AM and FM radio and paying our Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, even my newest best friend George Strait, who’s a co-winner, proud winner of the Kennedy Honors. I walked up to Georgeand we started talking about family and ‘where you from?’ ‘I’m from Texas,’ and I said, ‘I’m from Israel. Same thing, planet Earth.’ And we started talking and trading stuff and I told him, ‘George, do you know one of your biggest songs, ‘Amarillo [By Morning]’, which has been broadcast on AM and FM radio hundreds of thousands of times, do you know you never got a penny for any of those broadcasts?’ He looked around, he said, ‘What do you mean?’ Because he sings other people’s songs. ‘What do you mean?’ He turned to his handlers. ‘No, that’s true.’ How do you defend that?
How do we dare come in second to Russia, an alleged country led by a despot when they do a better job of paying our king of rock and roll, and we’re gonna stand by and not pay today’s artists and future artists, because, let’s face it, our children are tomorrow’s stars. They’re gonna claw and fight their way up to the top, and it’s really hard to do it. And once you reach the top of Mount Olympus, which is in the center of America, baby — don’t kid yourself; it ain’t in Greece. This is the land of opportunity where greatness is possible… When you work hard and you get to the top, what do you got? Zipperoni. That’s not the American way. If you are against this bill, you are un-American. You cannot let this injustice continue.
It looks like a small issue. There are wars going on and everything, but our emissaries to the world are Elvis and Frank Sinatra. And then when they find out we’re not treating our stars right, in other words, worse than slaves… Slaves get food and water. Elvis and Bing Crosby and Sinatra got nothing for their performance. You’ve got to change this now for our children and our children’s children, and I know you will. The president will sign this once all you guys, respectfully, get your act together and put this across the board. Let’s do the right thing. God bless, America.
Simmons provided testimony alongside Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange, the non-profit organization designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital streaming royalties to artists. Huppe has played a leading role in advocating for the American Music Fairness Act, a bipartisan legislation aimed at establishing equitable royalty payments for performers across all music delivery platforms.
The bill seeks to address the disparity whereby AM/FM radio remains the sole major platform in the United States that does not compensate performers for their work. While platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, YouTube, and TikTok pay royalties to artists, the radio industry generates billions annually without providing fair remuneration.
The United States uniquely among democracies continues to withhold royalties from artists, aligning it with nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. In contrast, countries like Russia and China ensure that performers receive appropriate royalties.
Simmons, who began his career as a musician in small venues and was honored at the Kennedy Center on December 7, was among over 300 prominent artists who earlier this year sent a letter to Congressional leaders advocating for the passage of the American Music Fairness Act. His endorsement has revitalized efforts to advance this legislation, with the hearing marking the first time in more than ten years that the Senate has addressed the issue.
