Randy Travis, wife Mary talk country singer's AI music comeback, American Music Fairness Act
"Forever and Ever, Amen" singer Randy Travis and his wife, Mary Travis, met with lawmakers and testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday regarding the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA).
Speaking as the "wife and voice" of her husband, who has aphasia and can’t speak, Mary Travis testified in D.C. on why the AMFA is important.
"What would sheet music sound like without a voice, and what would radio sound like without a song?" she said. "This piece of legislation is essential to correct a hundred-year-old issue regarding artists and nonpayment for their work performed on the most prominent music platform in America -- one of which they helped to build and sustain."
A bipartisan bill, the AMFA seeks to ensure music creators are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio.
Radio broadcasters argue that the new performance royalties would financially jeopardize many radio stations, forcing them to cut back on programming, and could lead to stations playing less music and only the most popular songs.
Artists are currently paid on other platforms, including satellite, cable and internet, when their music is played -- but not radio. Songwriters, on the other hand, are paid on all of the aforementioned platforms.
The bill aims to help these artists recover the hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties they are currently losing out on every year.
During the testimony, Mary Travis said she likes to call artificial intelligence "artistic intelligence" because it enabled her husband to release a new song utilizing the technology "in its most authentic and artistic way."
Randy Travis suffered a massive stroke -- among other health issues -- in 2013 that left him with aphasia, robbing him of his ability to perform live and speak.
Mary Travis said her husband’s song "Where That Came From" is "the first song ever recorded and released with full artist consent and involvement in a studio setting" using AI.
"This is good AI, but there is bad -- no, there's terrible -- AI out there, and it's increasing exponentially daily," she added.
In an interview with "Good Morning America," which aired on Thursday, Mary and Randy Travis sat down with ABC News' Rachel Scott, and Mary Travis recalled how she felt when listening to her husband’s voice through the song.
"I might still cry just thinking about it," she said.
Mary Travis also discussed the importance of speaking out at the Capitol with her husband.
"There [are] some changes that need to be made, and Randy felt like he was the one that has kind of been tapped to do that," she said, to which her husband agreed.
She continued, "After his stroke, we depend more on royalties because he can't tour; he's not out there on the road. That's where your money was made because they don't have CD sales or album sales anymore. So you depend on the royalties."
At the Capitol, the couple also called for more regulation around AI and music.
On Monday, major record companies sued AI song-makers for copyright infringement.
Kristin Robinson, a senior writer from Billboard, spoke to "GMA" about the concerns raised by the technology.
"The music industry is very worried right now about different AI music companies potentially scraping the Internet for copyrighted material so that they can train their AI models to produce music that will directly compete against human artists," Robinson said.
Discussing what she has learned throughout this whole process, Mary Travis said, "You learn that you can do a lot of things you never thought you could do. … This may be one of the most important things he does."
