Gene Simmons of Kiss pressed senators on Tuesday to require broadcast radio stations to pay performers when their recorded music is aired, arguing that artists have been denied fair compensation for decades.
Simmons appeared before a Senate judiciary subcommittee two days after receiving a Kennedy Center Honor.
He opened his testimony by telling lawmakers, "Let's call it for what it is — an injustice that has been going on for decades," Deadline reported.
He pointed to artists whose recordings have anchored radio programming for generations, saying performers such as Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra never received payment when their work was broadcast.
Simmons joined other artists in urging Congress to pass the Music Fairness Act, a proposal that would require broadcast radio to pay performers for using their recordings.
Current law compensates songwriters, and performers receive royalties from satellite and streaming services, but broadcast radio remains exempt.
Supporters argue that the loophole leaves performers unpaid while stations continue to profit from their recordings.
"When you work hard and you get to the top, what do you got?" Simmons asked senators. "Zipper-rooney."
"That's not the American way. If you [are] against this bill, you are un-American," he said.
"You cannot let this injustice continue."
Simmons said the problem continues even as attention is drawn to wider international issues.
"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 when they find out that we are not treating our stars right — in other words, worse than slaves. Slaves get food and water," he continued.
"Elvis, Bing Crosby and Sinatra got nothing for their performance. We have got to change this now for our children and our children's children."
Simmons also said President Donald Trump would approve the bill if Congress sends it to him, adding that earlier administrations backed similar efforts.
Advocates note that the gap causes problems overseas, where certain foreign broadcasters refuse to pay royalties to artists from nations without matching protections.
In an op-ed published before the hearing, Simmons wrote, "For all the success Kiss has enjoyed, I worry about the challenges facing the next generation of recording artists."
Efforts to establish a performance right have circulated in Congress for decades. Sinatra himself pushed for similar legislation in the 1970s, but those attempts stalled as broadcasters objected.
Nearly half of House lawmakers now back the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station."
The Music Fairness Act includes reduced fees for smaller operators. Stations with less than $1.5 million in annual revenue, and whose parent companies generate under $10 million, would pay $500 annually for performance rights, while public and noncommercial stations would pay $100 a year.
Henry Hinton, president and CEO of Inner Banks Media in Greenville, North Carolina, told the subcommittee that many stations are already under financial strain.
He said, "Imposing a new fee on radio's free service would jeopardize jobs, require stations to cut back local involvement in the community, and place more pressure on radio stations already struggling to survive."
"This not only hurts radio stations, but local communities and the artists who rely on radio's unprecedented reach to engage new and existing listeners," Hinton added.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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