Kiss' Simmons Forecasts Radio Royalty Bill Enactment Because Trump Is 'Very Pro-Artist'
Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons implied during an appearance Friday at the White House press briefing room that President Donald Trump would support the American Music Fairness Act (HR-861/S-326) if Congress passes it. The measure would levy a performance royalty on stations playing music on terrestrial radio. HR-861/S-326 is “a bipartisan bill that will get passed because [Trump] is very pro-artist,” Simmons told reporters. “America invented the music of the world in the first place, [but] we’re letting our artists” not get paid royalties for terrestrial radio transmissions of their music. Simmons was at the White House in conjunction with Trump’s planned presentation Sunday of the original lineup of Kiss musicians as Kennedy Center Honors recipients.
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The White House didn’t immediately comment on whether Trump would sign HR-861/S-326.
Simmons noted that he will also appear as a witness at Tuesday's Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing on HR-861/S-326. “I’ll be pointing my finger at both Republicans and Democrats” to advance HR-861/S-326. Major U.S. musicians like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley “were never paid a single cent when you heard their voices on the radio … even though [broadcasters] were making almost $14 billion” annually, Simmons said. Broadcasters use musicians' “name [and] likeness to promote their radio stations on billboards” and to attract advertising revenue, he added: “Can the artists … have a little of that? Would that be OK?”
National Religious Broadcasters is concerned that the hearing will amplify attention for both HR-861/S-326 and attempts to tie action on the measure to the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979/S-315) as a way of stymieing that bill’s prospects (see 2512040049). Congressional leaders scrapped a bid to attach a previous version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act to a continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations last year after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pressed to simultaneously add the American Music Fairness Act (see 2412180033). Cyndi Lauper, Barry Manilow and 14 other recording artists jointly urged congressional leaders in November to move the two measures in tandem (see 2511040069).