It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum[1] and was instrumental in helping the Twin Cities music scene achieve national attention in the 1980s.

[2] These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.

The label was begun by Peter Jesperson, music and sports writer Charley Hallman, and Paul Stark.

[7] Other groups that signed with Twin/Tone include the Magnolias, Babes in Toyland, Information Society, Agitpop, the Jayhawks, Poster Children, Soul Asylum, the Wallets, Curtiss A, and Pennsylvania-based Ween.

[12] In 2017, the label was revived by Stark and Jesperson to release the Suicide Commandos comeback album Time Bomb.