SONY LAUNCHES GAY MUSIC LABEL

For the first time, a major player in the music business is launching a record label specifically targeting gays and lesbians. Sony Music has stepped up to the plate to finally take the recording industry out of the closet.

The label, called Music with a Twist, will be dedicated to nurturing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered artists, and is a joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company which, together with MTV, launched the new US gay channel, LOGO.

Wilderness Media & Entertainment’s Matt Farber compared the launch of the label as being along the lines of other successful labels for US minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. “It’s an idea whose time has come”, he said.

While the artists on the label may be lesbian or gay, Farber intends that they will still have wide mainstream appeal. Music with a Twist will also release compilations featuring hit songs by established artists that are well-loved by LGBTI audiences.

Wilderness Media will also launch a syndicated national radio show aimed at gay and “gay-adjacent” communities in the States, called Twist.