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Choosing an artist name?

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Melina:
So I've pondered this a lot. I've always been pretty bad at making up names, I could never even make up a ny cool usernames in online spaces, but that didn't matter much. But what happens when you wanna choose a name for yourself to be known as artistically, and your full name is out of the question? (mine personally is unpronouncable to anyone who doesn't speak my native language, so that's most people. plus it's just ugly lol)
Do you go for mixing up your name with something else? Messing around with the spelling? Something that doesn't allude to your actual name but sounds cool nevertheless? And HOW do you find what sounds cool and will vibe well with the music you make? I'm tormented by this thought for when I eventually build a little studio in my bedroom and start recording music, because I wanna put it on streaming platforms and I'll need to present myself somehow.
If your name as a musician is different from your full name, how did you go about choosing it?

pompeyjazz:
Have you ever thought of using the name "Melina"  :) :) :)

My artist name comes from the name of two of my dogs - That may or may not work  ;D

adamfarr:
Translations can give some interesting and different results. My band name "Lutehill" is a translation into English of a place near where I live.

Swapping syllables around can give interesting new words too. If you don't like Melina then Linamel or Nameli sound quite unusual (and probably the .com or instagram aren't already taken... :-)).

Sing4me88:
Some great suggestions here already. There's really no limitations to the creativity in the process other than those you impose on yourself. In addition to the great advice already it might be worth thinking about adding in some non-letters to your name; so something like M3lina, M3lin4 or M3l!na might work. Alternatively, adding in a full stop of breaking up your name; Mel.INA or something like that....

cowparsleyman:
@Melina - Hmmm quite a thing, You are right to give it some careful consideration, as the repercussions can be surprisingly profound.

Maybe you you will make it big one day, maybe you won't, but you might want to develop and nurture a brand, which is almost impossible if you don't have  synchronised Website, email address, Socials etc.

I can recommend a single word as it's snappy and a bit easier to remember, smaller on posters, easier to type in Google etc.

Something that makes people think, a play on meanings is always good, something that causes a reaction (good or bad) both are fine as long as it's memorable and appropriate for the genre that you are promoting.

For example if you plump for Melina I bet you won't get the website melina.com, if you sold your work on Amazon, itunes Spotify would they find you under the same name?

So get your presence sorted first, you might have to compromise but get everything in place.

Vroom, you might get that but does it match your genre? if you are EDM then great, but a Folk singer might be better to use something else.

You might consider foreign words like Riski, or something with a double meaning like Rich (both wealth but difficult to digest)

So, as you rightly said in your opening piece, there's a bit to consider.

Anyway hope this helps Melina

I remember in the old Musicians Union member handbook one could look up all the Artists that were members, there were 2 Brian May's...

I would be interested in what you decide, and of course best of luck with it.

Rich

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