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\n\tGene Simmons<\/a> called on Congress<\/a> to pass new legislation that would finally secure payments for artists<\/a> when their music is played on radio<\/a>, declaring that under the current system artists are treated \u201cworse than slaves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Kiss<\/a> bassist appeared Tuesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing on the American Music Fairness Act, a bill that, if enacted, would require radio<\/a> companies to pay artists for the use of their recordings on the radio. Currently, only songwriters get royalties from radio airplay, not the artists who performed the track (whether lead performer or backing musicians).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn an impassioned, sometimes rambling speech, Simmons stressed the importance of passing this bill by noting that some of the biggest artists of all time \u2014 who often sang other peoples\u2019 work \u2014 never got paid for the copious radio airplay of their music. He mentioned Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Elvis Presley, who \u201cnever got a penny for all the millions of times\u201d his music was played on U.S. radio.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tSimmons said that during the recent Kennedy Center Honors<\/a>, he asked his fellow honoree, George Strait<\/a>, if he was aware that he\u2019d never been paid for all the radio plays of his hit, \u201cAmarillo by Morning.\u201d Simmons claimed Strait had no idea and had to ask his handlers if this was true.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf you are against this bill, you are un-American,\u201d Simmons declared. \u201cYou cannot let this injustice continue. It looks like a small issue \u2026 But our emissaries to the world are Elvis and Frank Sinatra. And when they find out we\u2019re not treating our stars right \u2014 in other words, worse than slaves; slaves get food and water. Elvis and Sinatra and Bing Crosby got nothing for their performance. You\u2019ve got to change this now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAs discussed by Simmons and others at the hearing, America\u2019s current radio royalty system is a noted outlier. Many other countries \u2014 including Russia and China \u2014 pay both songwriters and performers for radio airplay, and some countries have even taken to withholding royalties from American performers because their artists aren\u2019t compensated for U.S. airplay. Other countries with a system similar to the U.S. are Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.\u00a0<\/p>\n