KISS co-founder and co-lead singer Gene Simmons will testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Intellectual Property Subcommittee on December 9 in support of legislation that would require radio stations to pay performers when their music airs.

musicFIRST, a coalition founded in 2007 “to ensure music creators get fair pay for their work on all platforms,” said the hearing marks the first time since 2009 that the Senate has examined legislation that would close what supporters call the “radio loophole” and require radio companies to properly compensate artists for playing their recordings.

Simmons, who will receive Kennedy Center Honors with KISS this Sunday (December 7), will testify with Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange, the nonprofit that collects and distributes digital streaming royalties.

Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, reintroduced the American Music Fairness Act, described as “a bipartisan bill that establishes a performance right for sound recordings broadcast by terrestrial (AM/FM) radio.”

The legislation secured support from the Recording Academy and the musicFIRST coalition.

“I look forward to meeting with both Republican and Democratic Senators to discuss why this legislation is crucial for thousands of present and future American recording artists.”

Gene Simmons, KISS

Simmons said: “Having spent my career in the music and entertainment industry, I understand the vital importance of this issue. The American Music Fairness Act represents sound public policy. Artists must be properly compensated for their creative work. I look forward to meeting with both Republican and Democratic Senators to discuss why this legislation is crucial for thousands of present and future American recording artists.”

While streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as satellite radio and internet radio pay performers royalties, traditional radio stations “use the music of hard-working performers and producers without compensating them for their work” due to a loophole in the existing bill, the Recording Academy has said.

When the bill was reintroduced earlier this year, Rep. Issa said: “Now is the time for the United States to finally adopt the proven global standard of compensating our artists for music broadcast over the radio.”

Senator Blackburn said: “The United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not paid for the use of their music on AM and FM radio. This legislation would close an outdated loophole that has allowed corporate broadcasters to take advantage of artists and their songs for decades.”

musicFIRST noted that big radio corporations made $13.6 billion last year in advertising revenue.

“The United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not paid for the use of their music on AM and FM radio.”

Marsha Blackburn, US Senator

The American Music Fairness Act has attracted backing from more than 300 artists who wrote to Congressional leaders in February. That coalition includes performers across genres who argue the current system “robbed us from being paid on terrestrial radio for decades.”

Country music singer Randy Travis testified before the House last year in support of the measure.

“Now is the time for the United States to finally adopt the proven global standard of compensating our artists for music broadcast over the radio.”

Darrell ISSA, US Representative

Community broadcasters —  including the Alliance for Community Media, Common Frequency, Media Alliance, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB), Prometheus Radio Project, and REC Networks — have also endorsed the legislation.

SoundeExchange’s Huppe said: “I’m pleased for the opportunity to testify before the Senate next week. Recording artists are an essential part of our culture. It’s outrageous that, in 2025, they still are not paid fairly for the work they do. I hope that the Senate will remedy this inequity and act swiftly to pass this important legislation.”

While the bill’s proponents argue that AM/FM radio “refuses to pay performers for their work,” performance rights organization BMI in August declared that its latest agreement with radio broadcasters included its “largest rate increase ever” for royalties paid on music played on the air in the US.

“Recording artists are an essential part of our culture. It’s outrageous that, in 2025, they still are not paid fairly for the work they do.”

Michael Huppe, SoundExchange

According to documents filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in August, AM/FM radio stations will pay a headline rate of 2.14% of their gross revenue for a blanket license to play songs represented by BMI for 2022 and 2023, rising gradually to 2.20% for 2026-2029.

Given that the previous agreement between BMI and the radio stations represented by the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) set a blanket fee rate of 1.78% for the 2017-2021 period, that means there will ultimately be a 23.6% increase in the rate radio stations pay for playing BMI-represented music on the air, MBW reported earlier.

Music Business Worldwide

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But Lee Schuneman, chief product officer at edtech firm Efekta Education Group and a former game designer, thinks that’s a simplistic way to think about how the video game industry can help other industries.

“Gamification tends to manifest itself as high score streaks,” Schuneman said Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Design conference in Macau. “All of these things are meaningful for certain social media products, but at the end of the day, if you’re there to learn, you have to put in the time and effort.”

Before moving to Efekta, Schuneman spent years working for UK video game studio Rare, developing games like 1997’s Diddy Kong Racing and 2002’s Star Fox[/hotlink ignore=”true”] Adventure.

Today, even as he cautions organizations about embracing simplistic form of gamification, he also makes the case that game design holds important lessons for education.

“[The key is] to keep you in the learning experience—the same as keeping you in a gaming experience—and find ways to keep you motivated as a student,” he said.

Schuneman said he’s now exploring how to integrate agentic AI into Efekta’s education service and “blending it with different gaming elements” to keep students engaged. A “huge shortage” of English-language and STEM teachers in the so-called Global South means there’s a huge need for AI tutors, he said.

Efekta has rolled out its AI learning assistant to 4 million students across Latin America.

‘The future of play’

Other panelists shared how the gaming industry was exploring the use of AI.

AI can “spark imagination about the future of play,” said Haiyan Zhang, the general manager and partner of gaming AI at Xbox. “Creators across the world [need] to think about what new things that they can do with gaming through the use of AI, and I think that will really help us drive this new capability.”

Zhang cited a hypothetical example: game preservation.

Researchers found that to introduce arcade classics like Pac-Man, Dig Dug or Q*bert to new audiences, designers need to take the essence of each game and create new experiences.

“There is now capability for AI to learn the back catalog of games, to allow new generations to experience these games in new ways,” Zhang said.

Beta Liu, an AI lead from NetEase Games, shared how the Chinese company was using the new technology in one of its flagship products: Sword of Justice, an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) centering on wuxia, a genre of Chinese fiction about martial artists in ancient China.

What sets the game apart is its AI engine, which spawns countless non-player characters (NPCs) with unique storylines and characteristics. The NPCs don’t just dole[/hotlink ignore=”true”] out quests, but remember players’ decisions and act accordingly after.

Since its launch in China in 2023, the game—set in the late Northern Song Dynasty and powered by DeepSeek’s technology—has garnered millions of players. On Nov. 7, NetEase launched Sword of Justice in global markets.

“AI is not only a tech buzzword, but also [powers] their [players’] companion and their creation tools in our game,” explained Liu. For example, he noted, players can animate their characters to follow popular social media trends, like dances or China’s famed micro-dramas.

Ultimately, game designers hope that AI will help “elevate the player experience,” said Zhang of Xbox.

Two months ago, Xbox introduced an AI co-pilot on mobile and PC. Players can boot it up while they game, and ask it questions about how to win a boss battle or what active missions there are.

“That might seem like a super simple idea, but I think it really brings gaming to life, and [encapsulates] what gaming is about,” she added. “We want to make gaming even more fun, [and] even more exciting.”