Simmons is the latest of over 300 artists to support the bill
Gene Simmons will wrap a busy week in Washington, DC, by testifying in support of the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act. A proposed change to copyright law, the bill—which has been introduced in recent Congresses in both the House and the Senate—seeks to require AM/FM radio stations to compensate artists and sound recording copyright owners with performance royalties for music played over the air.
Simmons spoke to The Music Universe on the red carpet of the 48th Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC, tonight (Sun, Dec 7th), where he and his band Kiss were among those honored. He tells us that he believes the legislation is important for all musicians.
“First of all, in these polarizing times, we have to stress that it’s going to be bipartisan. Marsha Blackburn’s gonna be there. Mr. Schiff is gonna be there. Democrats and Republicans align in the idea that if you work hard in America, you should get paid,” Simmons tells us. “When we all hear, for half a century or more, the voice of Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra, did you know that the recording studio, the record company, the writers and the publishers — everybody gets paid except the reason we tune into the radio station in the first place, because we love those performers? They get zero. Zero. That’s gotta change. Not just for the past, but for the future artists of America, because we created rock n roll, blues, hip-hop, country and western music, jazz, and so on, and we have to protect the idea that in America, if you work hard, you should get paid. I guarantee you this will pass because I know where those Senators live.”
The United States is currently the only democratic nation where artists receive no compensation when their music is played on AM/FM radio. The American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) aims to close this decades-old, antiquated loophole, finally requiring powerful broadcast radio corporations to pay performance royalties to creators for the use of their music. while protecting small, college, and non-commercial stations.
If passed, artists, session musicians, and vocalists would all be paid when their music is played on the radio. An organization like SoundExchange would distribute those funds.
The American Music Fairness Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), and in the U.S. House by U.S. Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Mark Green (R-TN), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Ted Lieu (D-CA). Country music icon Randy Travis, who suffered a stroke that has left him unable to perform, testified last June about how the American Music Fairness Act will make a difference in the lives of artists during a House Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing. In February, Boyz II Men visited Capitol Hill, where they shared a letter signed by over 300 artists asking for the bill to pass.