Sony launches gay music label

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

The recording industry is coming out of the closet.

Sony Music this morning said it was launching the first major music label dedicated to nurturing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered artists.

The label, Music with a Twist, is a joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company led by Matt Farber, who founded Viacom Inc's MTV Networks' new gay and lesbian channel LOGO, which is available in an estimated 20 million homes.

The label also comes as Wilderness Media plans this weekend to launch a syndicated national radio show called Twist targeting the gay and "gay-adjacent" communities, debuting on FM stations and the web.

The weekly two-hour radio show will feature music, celebrity interviews, entertainment reports and relationship and lifestyle advice and news in a "morning show" format.






"It's an idea whose time has come," Farber said, referring to the expansion of gay-themed media properties.

"Only now are media and entertainment brands being created for the gay and lesbian audience following the success of brands for other minorities," he said.

Farber noted that the success of brands dedicated to the African American and Hispanic audiences have also helped talent in these communities cross over well beyond their core audiences.

Likewise, Music With a Twist's roster will feature gay artists who have mass appeal and hit potential across all musical genres. The label will collaborate with Sony Music's other US labels and divisions, including Columbia Records Group, Epic Records, Sony Nashville and Sony Urban Music.

Sony Music is part of Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony Corp and Bertelsmann AG.

The label also plans to release various compilations geared toward gay and bisexual audiences, as well as music fans everywhere, featuring hit songs by established artists that have been embraced by gay, bisexual and trans-gendered audiences as well as tracks from emerging gay artists.

The first of these compilations will be released in June 2006 during National Gay Pride Month.


this wont make up for their recent media problems but it's a STRONG head in the right direction........................

expect them to dominate next year's Grammy's for Female Artists under this label

[BeardedOne]

Hunh, "gay-adjacent"

Izzat like 'my neighbors are gay'?

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Caleigh]

While it's nice that they feel like there is no penalty on an
artist for being gay, at the same time this idea bothers me.
Who cares about the sexuality of an artist? Isn't it their work
that we should care about? Everyone knew Elton John was
gay (or bisexual if he want's to back pedal) for ages. It
never seemed to hurt his sales. Melissa Etheridge, heck she
worked that lesbian thing. The only upside is if some people
who are now in the closet feel safe enough to come out.

[Caleigh]

While it's nice that they feel like there is no penalty on an
artist for being gay, at the same time this idea bothers me.
Who cares about the sexuality of an artist? Isn't it their work
that we should care about? Everyone knew Elton John was
gay (or bisexual if he want's to back pedal) for ages. It
never seemed to hurt his sales. Melissa Etheridge, heck she
worked that lesbian thing. The only upside is if some people
who are now in the closet feel safe enough to come out.

[chefmike]

While it's nice that they feel like there is no penalty on an
artist for being gay, at the same time this idea bothers me.
Who cares about the sexuality of an artist? Isn't it their work
that we should care about? Everyone knew Elton John was
gay (or bisexual if he want's to back pedal) for ages. It
never seemed to hurt his sales. Melissa Etheridge, heck she
worked that lesbian thing. The only upside is if some people
who are now in the closet feel safe enough to come out.

Paging Mr. Cruise....Paging Mr. Spacey....Paging Mr. Murphy....

[Legend]

What the hell is gay music? Techno,Rap,Country, Disco why are they trying to label everything good music is good music,no matter what sexuality the artist is. This is sorta the same garbage they are doing with movies. People need to stop labeling!

[brickcitybrother]

Sony ... once again - making a huge mistake. You wanna support artists... then do so. I mean this is the easiest way to hurt artisit. All that is necessary is for this effort to fail ... and the suits in research/marketing and strategic planning will all conclude that gay artists are not profitable. Think of the different budge allocations that can now be justified. Before this... artists could compare themselves (or at least their treatment by the labels) based on their music (and sales) ... not anymore.

What next .... Billboard's Fag 100? Trans Top 50?

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

while I agree with you guys to an extent you will now have artist who were on weaker labels that got very little exposure now able to be seen on a much broader scale

[Legend]

while I agree with you guys to an extent you will now have artist who were on weaker labels that got very little exposure now able to be seen on a much broader scale

Based on what their being gay, shouldn't it be based on thier talent?

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

while I agree with you guys to an extent you will now have artist who were on weaker labels that got very little exposure now able to be seen on a much broader scale

Based on what their being gay, shouldn't it be based on thier talent?

Legend you & I both know that if the recording industry gave out awards & contracts based on talent we'd actually hear good music more often

What I meant is that there are artists out there that have been sitting on some little label because some music exec at a major label thought their look or sexual preference wouldn't sell records, and now some of those artist might have a better shot at making it..................