WASHINGTON – KISS’s Gene Simmons and SoundExchange President & CEO Michael Huppe forcefully called on Congress to finally require AM/FM radio corporations to pay artists for using their music during a Senate Judiciary Committee Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing today on the American Music Fairness Act (S.326).
Simmons, who received a Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, said, “New artists are not going to get their fair shake…all these pennies are so important…especially for tomorrow’s stars who are being born today. This is for our children and for our children’s children. We can’t just let them out in the cold and not have a way to get paid for their hard work.”
Huppe, who leads the non-profit organization designated by Congress to collect digital royalties on behalf of recording artists, added, “AMFA is a bipartisan bill that ensures every drummer, guitarist, singer, and musician gets paid fairly for the work they do. Not only is AMFA supported by legislators on both sides of the aisle, but every administration in the past 50 years including the Trump and Biden administrations.”
The American Music Fairness Act, sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), takes a balanced approach to ensure music artists are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, requires big radio corporations to finally pay their fair share, and helps small independent broadcasters thrive at the same time.
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.
Senators on the IP Subcommittee praised the American Music Fairness Act as well:
- Chair Thom Tillis (R-NC): “The holders of the recording do not hold the same rights and royalties of the composition when a song is performed.”
- Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): “We are in league with North Korea and Cuba and Iran in not valuing what the creator comes up with, what the musician comes up with. So now we have the opportunity to right this wrong.”
- Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA): “Today I’m reminded everyone is struggling with the cost of living…I know that artists are no exception to that struggle. Now more than ever, the US needs to join other democratic countries in recognizing a public performance right for artists…the issue is in my opinion about doing what’s right, and what’s fair.”
- Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA): “This isn’t just about fairness at home, American artists are losing about $70 million in royalties because other countries won’t pay our artists if we refuse to pay theirs.”
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.
- A broad range of artists from Cyndi Lauper to Lil Jon to Gloria Gaynor to TLC to Barry Manilow – and thousands more – have voiced their support for AMFA, most recently in a November letter to Congressional leaders.
- Every Democratic and Republican administration since President Carter– including both the Trump and Biden administrations– has supported a performance right for sound recordings in the U.S.
musicFIRST works to ensure music creators get fair pay for their work on all platforms and wherever and however it is played. We rally the people and organizations who make and love music to end the broken status quo that allows AM/FM to use any song ever recorded without paying its performers a dime. And to stand up for fair pay on digital radio — and whatever comes next.
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