Picking a band name
Picking a band name should be the easiest part right, just ask . So if its so easy, why do people find it so hard. Well, it is hard, and it is important, especially if you want to get out of that spare room someday and up on stage.
The main thing is you don’t want to change (or be forced to change) your band’s name after years of building a fan base.
Below are a few tips. Let me know how you did it in the comments.
Tips and Ideas:
- Use your own name - I know it worked for Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7 (did you know he used to be the drummer for Bruce Springsteen?) and Bon Jovi, but for the last time, we are not calling the band Putzkammer! The tricky thing here is ego, until the money starts rolling in (ha ha – sorry) the rest of the band might feel like they are building someone else’s brand and getting nothing in return. This is true of any company. If there are egos involved best to pick something neutral. Maybe that’s why Bon Jovi’s first band was called Raze (he was 13).
- Make sure ownership is clear - There is nothing wrong with using your last name – if you are the founder of the band (and owner of the company that operates the band), then do it. The only problem arises when the person with last name leaves the band….which does happen. Then what do we do Putzkammer!
- Appropriate to the genre – If your a wedding band, don’t pick a raunchy name – no one is going to hire “Puke” to sing their wedding, no matter how tuned your orchestra.
- Distinctive - Don’t pick “Toad the Dry Sprocket”. Come on man, music is about being creative (even if all you do is covers). The only way that name is appropriate is if you ONLY cover Toad the Wet Sprocket – even then…come on!
- Evocative - The name should reflect the mood of your music – dark, light, pop, fun, heavy, folk, whatever.
Pronounceable - Word of mouth might be the only marketing you get – don’t kill it. This shit might work for Prince, but real people need a name.
Need some help – here are some Band name generators – basically a simple script that takes interesting words and randomly pairs them - they have been around for a while so they might all be used up (I doubt it)
- Rock’n'Roll Generator – If your looking for crappy names – check here.
- Band Name Maker – I like this one – it lets add your own word into it
- NameBoy.com this site lets you enter keywords and check for domains – since the first thing a lot of bands do is get a domain, you can be reasonablly sure no one has it if the domain is open.
Once you have a few good candidates and before you start making t-shirts, you need to make sure now one else has the name already (unless you want main audience is trademark attorneys who like to go crazy and lift their shirts showing you their cease and desist letters). Once your -reasonablly- sure no one has it, then you’ll need to trademark it (I would also get the internet domain name to – its only $9 at godaddy.com)
The fist place to look is ASCAP. If they make have songs that, you know, make money while they sleep then they are listed there. Also look at BMI.
Some other resources –
- Band Name – It has a band name registry, classifieds, newsletters, etc
- The Band Register – A band registry, A&R Network, and band name trademark info
- Also check GarageBand.com and SoundClick.com.