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."

Twist has already signed two artists, Portland, Ore., punk rock band the Gossip and British hipster chick Kirsten Price. "I love the idea of our music reaching the gay audience--but it will reach both audiences," says out Gossip lead singer Beth Ditto from London, where the band is opening for Scissor Sisters. Besides, she adds, "everybody's a little gay."