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Crossing over with Twist
The
goal is not to have a rainbow flag implanted into their brain," says Matt Farber
of the artists at Music With a Twist, the new LGBT-oriented record label
recently launched by Sony Music. "Our executives are like-minded and embrace
[the artists'] gay identity as part of who they are."
That's how it is at the first major-label home for gay and lesbian artists,
where "crossover appeal" is the official mantra. Although independent record
label Tommy Boy launched an LGBT imprint called Silver Label in 2000 that
specifically markets to gays, Twist is aiming for broader success. "There hasn't
been a platinum-selling recording artist in the U.S. that was out at the
beginning of their career," says Farber, "unlike in Britain, where the first
winner of their version of American Idol was ... Will Young," who came out
almost immediately afterward and went on to top the charts as a solo artist.
And, he points out, "Melissa Etheridge hasn't sold any less records since she
came out."
Twist came about after Farber, who also established the Logo gay cable channel
at Viacom's MTV Networks, went to Sony and argued that if the company had labels
for ethnic minorities with artists like Beyonce (technically signed to Sony
Urban) and Shakira, it should have a gay brand too. But while the LGBT audience
will be a core base for the label, Twist plans to use Sony's giant global
infrastructure to market its acts to a broad crossover fan base. As for LGBT-specific
lyrics, Farber says he encourages the acts to be authentic in their songwriting
but adds that "most music is gender-neutral."
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