BRASILIA -- Gilberto Gil, Brazil's best-known musician and culture minister, has become the first Brazilian artist to get a dedicated YouTube channel, he and the site's owner, Google, said Tuesday.

"I want to give a boost to this trend," the guitar-strumming, Internet-savvy politician said on the site.

"Someone has to go to the laboratory, experiment, mix it up. I'm a little bit a scientist, a little bit a guinea pig," the 65-year-old Bossa Nova singer said.

The head of Google Brazil, Alexandre Hohagen, said his company intended to put other Brazilian artists on YouTube.

"The idea is that it be a democratic channel for artists to show their works. We want to see artists get known through YouTube," Hohagen said.

Gil, who has a recording contract with Warner Music and who is the most popular minister in Brazil's leftwing government, is an advocate for a debate on changing intellectual property rights.

He continues to put on shows alongside his political duties. At one point he said he planned to resign his portfolio this year but has since changed his mind.