Sony Music launches gay label

By Sue Zeidler

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The recording industry is coming
out of the closet.

Sony Music on Tuesday 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 told Reuters,
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 U.S. 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.