Watch: GENE SIMMONS Takes Over White House Briefing Room To Discuss American Music Fairness Act

On Friday, December 5, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was spotted in the White House briefing room, where he took over the podium and answered reporters' questions about a variety of topics, including KISS receiving a Kennedy Center Honors Award on Sunday (December 7),and Simmons's appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (December 9) about the American Music Fairness Act, which aims to ensure singers are paid by radio stations when their music is played.

Speaking about his support of the American Music Fairness Act, which will require radio corporations to pay recording artists for their music, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[On Tuesday] I'll be pointing my finger at both Republicans and Democrats or senators who are joining to hear me talk about the American Music Fairness Act that needs to be passed because your favorite artists — Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and quite a few others — were never paid a single cent when you heard their voices on the radio. Nothing. They were never paid for their performance on the radio, even though radio yearly was making almost 14 billion dollars.

"In America, if you work hard, you should get paid," he continued. "But that is a fact that's been around for forever, and sadly this injustice has been ongoing without anybody paying attention to it. It doesn't affect us as much 'cause we make a living. But our kids, [my son] Nick and [my daughter] Sophie, are both successful artists, and we, as guardians of their future, are not going to allow this injustice to continue.

"If there's an artist who's heard on radio, they should get paid, because the radio stations use our name, our likeness to promote their radio stations on billboards, everywhere else, and they charge advertisers money and they're making 14 billion — that's with a 'B' — dollars annually, multiplied by, if you have a 50-year career, that's a lot of money. Can the artists that we all admire — from Sinatra to Elvis — have a little bit of that? Would that be okay?

"So this is a bipartisan bill that will get passed because the president is very pro artists.

"America invented the music of the world in the first place," Simmons added. "Rock and roll, blues, jazz, most of it from black music, of course, and country and western, hip-hop was invented right here, and we're letting our artists, the voices of America, American culture, get by working hard on their craft and not getting paid."

Simmons will testify next Tuesday 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 will be 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 — next Tuesday's hearing will mark the first time in more than a decade that the Senate has 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.