One of the most important things you must do as an artist is to choose a real good artist name. Usually, this name is somebody’s first impression of you, before listening to your music. Here what advertising companies do for finding clients’ company names!
STEP 1
Create a list with any ideas you have. Write down things and words that you love (a movie, a song, a flower, a city etc). Google and Wikipedia can help a lot to this procedure. For example: If you like astronomy, search names of stars. If you like painting, search names of painters or famous artworks. Spend a lot of time searching. Write down almost anything, even if these ideas don’ t sound so good at the beginning.
STEP 2
Play. Try to match some of these words with other words, such as a colour, an adjective, a feeling…
STEP 3
Start reading the list you have created and delete:
– names you don’ t like at all
– names used by somebody else (this is very important)*
– names that do not fit with the kind of your music or your persona
– names that sound ugly
– names that could be misunderstood or create a bad feeling
– names that you are not going to like as the years pass
– names that are generic
– names that are difficult to search or remember
STEP 4
Now, you must have some good options left.
Work on them, try to change them, play with words and meaning, improve them to match your art. Then choose the best for you!
Good luck!
*The name should not be used by someone else. Search carefully on music platforms (Spotify, Apple Music etc) for Artists with same name. Google the name you have chosen. Add the word “music” or “music artist” next to it when you search the web.
