GENE SIMMONS Explains His Capitol Hill Testimony On Pay For Artists From Radio Plays: 'It's An Injustice That Has Long Been Overdue'

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke to CBS News about his appearance in front of a Senate subcommittee hearing on the American Music Fairness Act, which would require that artists are paid when their recordings are played on the radio. Asked by "CBS News 24/7 Mornings" anchor Vladimir Duthiers what his argument is and what he is hoping lawmakers took away from his remarks, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Congress must pass a bill called the American Music Fairness Act. American music — we invented rock and roll, blues, hip-hop, country and western, jazz, all of it. It comes from here. America's music is the music of the planet. Whether you're talking about Bing Crosby singing 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas', written by Irving Berlin, perhaps almost a hundred years ago, all the way to today's music. Elvis Presley has never been paid a single penny for all the — God knows — tens of thousands of hours you heard his voice coming out of AM and FM radio. I'm gonna say this again: your favorite artist does not get paid a single red cent when you hear their voices emanating from AM and FM radio. Meantime, the radio industry itself just made 14 billion dollars — that's with a 'b' — by selling advertising. And by the way, more power to them. I'm not here to demonize them, but it's time to pay artists something — somewhere between nothing and 14 billion dollars that the radio industry takes in. So this is a loophole that's got to be filled — not so much for me; I'm doing okay. I make a living. But all the new artists, every little one of those pennies helps them survive. For God's sakes, our children and our children's children are gonna be tomorrow's stars, which means the world's stars. Let's give 'em a chance. Right now if their songs are played on AM and FM, they're getting zippo, zero."

Asked if he thinks think his plea has fallen on deaf ears or if the lawmakers will "actually get this legislation done," Gene said: "I had the pleasure to meet the speaker of the house, some face time, and Senator Marsha Blackburn, and also Mr. [Adam] Schiff on the Democratic part. They are aligned with the idea that this has gotta be fixed. I had some personal face time with the president alone, just generally talking about family and stuff. I won't mention what else we talked about, but this will pass because it's an injustice that has long been overdue.

"I'd like to stress that there's a profound difference between streaming, and AM and FM radio," Simmons clarified. "We're only talking about AM and FM. My companion, when I drive down the highway, is AM and FM. I turn on my favorite station, and as I go from city to city, I turn on [the radio and] I wanna hear Sinatra. Frank Sinatra estate was never paid a single penny all those millions of times you heard Sinatra sing those songs. Celine Dion, Whitney Houston never made a penny when you heard them on the radio, but radio stations made a ton of money. And so have lots of other people. We're not talking about writers or publishers. They were paid. But the reason I tune in is not because somebody wrote a song or somebody hooted a flute someplace. I wanna hear Elvis or Whitney or the newest artists. They get paid nothing and that's gotta get fixed right now."

Gene testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Intellectual Property Subcommittee on Tuesday, December 9 during a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act (S.326/H.R.861),legislation to close the radio loophole and compel radio corporations to pay performers for playing their music.

During his seven-minute speech, which can be seen in its entirety below, Simmons stressed the importance of passing the bill that would force AM/FM radio stations to pay royalties to the copyright holders of respective works played.

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman," Gene said in part. "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 George and 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 areElvis 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 testified alongside Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange, the non-profit designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital streaming royalties to artists. Huppe has helped lead the fight in recent years to build support for the American Music Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures radio corporations play by the same rules as every other music delivery platform that pays performers royalties.

AM/FM radio remains the only major music delivery platform in the United States that still refuses to pay performers for their work. Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, YouTube and TikTok all pay performers, while the corporate radio industry earns billions of dollars each year without paying artists fairly. The United States stands as the world's only democracy that still refuses to pay artists, putting it in the same league as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Even Russia and China pay performers royalties.

Simmons, who started his career as a small-venue musician and was honored at the Kennedy Center on December 7, was one of more than 300 major artists who sent a letter to Congressional leaders earlier this year urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act. His support has helped breathe new life into this effort — today's hearing marked the first time in more than a decade that the Senate had held a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act.

The American Music Fairness Act is sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA). The bill takes a balanced approach to ensure artists are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, require big radio corporations to finally pay their fair share, and help small independent broadcasters thrive. The legislation is supported by a diverse coalition of artists, broadcasters, labels, and music lovers:

Broadcasters, such as the Alliance for Community Media, Common Frequency, Media Alliance, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB),Prometheus Radio Project and REC Networks — which represent a broad coalition of community broadcasters — also support AMFA.

Last month, more than a dozen major artists asked Congress not to pass legislation requiring AM radio in new vehicles without also closing the radio loophole for artists.

More than 300 artists sent a letter to Congressional leaders in February urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act.

Country music icon Randy Travis memorably testified before the House last year urging adoption of the legislation.