Influx of bad artist names

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:25 AM, SPD² said:

Well seeing as I didn't get to pick my real name, if i were to do music I'd probably release under a name of my choosing. If i were to direct a film though I'd used my real name. It's sort of this, 'when in Rome' kind of thing. it's just what you do in a particular art, and I don't have a problem w/ that. In some cases I would have a prob going w/ the flow but in this one, I just agree w/ it.

 

I feel privileged enough that someone (my parents) saw enough special value in me to give me a name, so that's good enough for real life, but music is not real life.

yeah, i concur. I quite like my given name, as I'm the only one in the country with it exactly, but it sure as hell wouldn't be a good music name. no one can pronounce it.

Furthermore, to give yourself a bad artist name (unbeknownst to you), is to say something about your sensibility and artistic judgement.

At least as far as words go.

Mizz Richard Divine

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:30 AM, SPD² said:

Furthermore, to give yourself a bad artist name (unbeknownst to you), is to say something about your sensibility and artistic judgement.

 

At least as far as words go.

way to make me feel even worse about myself. fuck.

I know someone who ordered a pizza and when asked for a name, they said Mel Gibston. "I know, Ha HA, funny name, right?"

It went over quite well.

  On 6/14/2011 at 1:57 AM, Hertha Thiele said:

Times were different. In that era, the common thing as an electronic artist was to release your music with your name on it, then some guys felt that they were different. Now it's the complete opposite. That's why I say it's anachronistic.

  Quote

Caption: The Hot Sauce Aisle

 

I’m a lifelong fan of hot and spicy foods, especially hot sauce. Once you get away from the venerable tabasco and into the specialty stuff, it gets pretty wild. The first time you see a proper collection of specialty hot sauces all together, it’s enough to give you vertigo. They have all manners of crazy labels and names. There seems to be a constant arms race to out-do each other — it takes a hell of a lot to stand out in the hot sauce aisle. Some are overwhelmingly colorful, others attempt to stand out simply by having a lack of color. Humor is important, as are certain keywords like “fire.” Weird bottle shapes. One-off batches referencing media events or public figures, that aren’t around for more than a few months. I get the feeling the same hot sauce is still on the shelf somewhere, but with a different label.

 

If you’re new to the hot sauce aisle, you have two options: Pick the one with the label that appeals to you most, or buy based on someone else’s advice. It takes a lot of time and effort to even begin to know the brands, and it’s virtually impossible to become a connoisseur unless you do it for a living — especially as the selection is constantly changing. Most people buy one or two every year and stop there, as it’s not terribly important to them. Some people collect them. Others become obsessed.

 

Caption: Lots of weird hot sauce and obscure electronic equipment -- this guy isn't me, but it could be.

I find the competition in the hot sauce aisle to be a remarkable parallel to the plight of “internet musicians,” and the constant free-for-all to get some attention — any attention! The internet is a world where everyone is ADD and quick to judge. We have to be — there’s such an overwhelming amount of STUFF on the internet that no one could ever get a handle on it. So we fall back to snap-judgements. If something doesn’t send the right signals, we conclude it won’t be worth our time and move on to something else.

 

People regularly link to my music (and to this site) with absolutely no background information. It’s just one thing on a list of many things they like well enough to link. Look no further than the “blogroll” every wordpress has. Having someone else vouch for you by linking is the first half of the battle… but if the name is boring, chances are the person will click on another link instead, and you still wind up with nothing. There is no halfway.

 

Consequently, people try all sorts of wacky shit. Some try to be clever or topical, others try to be funny, while still more merely go for an interesting word or three. I thought the “LAKE R▲DIO” name floating around on what.cd was a particularly sharp move. The triangle stands out, it’s keyed to their identity, but you can still google for it (a name made entirely of webdings wouldn’t fly).

 

What’s simultaneously funny and infuriating about this is that it has absolutely nothing to do with music. It’s about promotion. Lots of great music gets missed due to a boring name, while lots of crap takes off because of a clever one. Like hot sauce, most people don’t have the motivation to sift through it all, as it’s only a casual interest. So they buy based on the label.

http://www.electronicmusing.com/blog/2011/06/whats-in-a-name/

and, for what it's worth, i would never have noticed the letter-switch "trend" if not for watmm. i can think of only two off the top of my head: com and juke.

I think I might just put my first name on things & hope I get Madonna or Oprah level huge.

Or just put sharks on everything

  On 6/14/2011 at 3:29 AM, hahathhat said:

 

What’s simultaneously funny and infuriating about this is that it has absolutely nothing to do with music. It’s about promotion. Lots of great music gets missed due to a boring name, while lots of crap takes off because of a clever one. Like hot sauce, most people don’t have the motivation to sift through it all, as it’s only a casual interest. So they buy based on the label.

But this is my point. It isn't funny to me, but very infuriating. A "true" artist should be above of that promotion game. If music gets missed due to a stupid "listener", it's his fault. And this seems to be the mentality nowadays; promotion first, art later. But they (artists) get lost in the process, in the trend, in the interviews; by their second album (if they are lucky), they will lose motivation (cause they're sick of the game or they don't win money anyways (if that is the case they should look for another thing)) or people stop caring. So they enjoyed some success in a very limited span and then what? there goes your efforts to be a promoted artist.

Please, don't tell me that I have a idealistic view, etc. If you don't make popular music (whatever it means, even techno hits), it means that you don't (normally) care about fame and money, so why bother with this promotion game? It's not even a thing of being grey between the black and white; it's being black for some things and white for others.

When I see an underground artist releasing his music with his real name (or something not too idiotic), I feel I gain some respect for him even if I don't like his music. Maybe it's some sense of seriousness that I respect, a feel of facing with honesty his occupation, which someone would brand as "pretentious" like some users in here.

btw, I've never checked any LAKE R▲DIO music because of that name. That triangle screams "LOOK! I'M HERE! PLEASE CHECK MY MUSIC PLZZZ". Maybe he's good, but...

Wevie Stonder has been around for at least a decade. And they ain't no one trick pony.

can't forget Gnarls Barkley

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:40 AM, sneaksta303 said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:30 AM, SPD² said:

Furthermore, to give yourself a bad artist name (unbeknownst to you), is to say something about your sensibility and artistic judgement.

 

At least as far as words go.

way to make me feel even worse about myself. fuck.

lolol.

Eh if you think it's a bad artist name then change it to something you like. It's not like all of our favorites aren't known by like 12 names.

God also has many names. To have many names is to be godlike.

  On 6/14/2011 at 4:02 AM, chenGOD said:

Wevie Stonder has been around for at least a decade. And they ain't no one trick pony.

To be fair, afaik they were the first, but it still doesn't make it that good of an artist name, hehehe.

At least it was a little bit amusing when they did it...

  On 6/14/2011 at 4:01 AM, Hertha Thiele said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 3:29 AM, hahathhat said:

 

What’s simultaneously funny and infuriating about this is that it has absolutely nothing to do with music. It’s about promotion. Lots of great music gets missed due to a boring name, while lots of crap takes off because of a clever one. Like hot sauce, most people don’t have the motivation to sift through it all, as it’s only a casual interest. So they buy based on the label.

 

But this is my point. It isn't funny to me, but very infuriating. A "true" artist should be above of that promotion game. If music gets missed due to a stupid "listener", it's his fault. And this seems to be the mentality nowadays; promotion first, art later. But they (artists) get lost in the process, in the trend, in the interviews; by their second album (if they are lucky), they will lose motivation (cause they're sick of the game or they don't win money anyways (if that is the case they should look for another thing)) or people stop caring. So they enjoyed some success in a very limited span and then what? there goes your efforts to be a promoted artist.

 

Please, don't tell me that I have a idealistic view, etc. If you don't make popular music (whatever it means, even techno hits), it means that you don't (normally) care about fame and money, so why bother with this promotion game? It's not even a thing of being grey between the black and white; it's being black for some things and white for others.

 

When I see an underground artist releasing his music with his real name (or something not too idiotic), I feel I gain some respect for him even if I don't like his music. Maybe it's some sense of seriousness that I respect, a feel of facing with honesty his occupation, which someone would brand as "pretentious" like some users in here.

 

btw, I've never checked any LAKE R▲DIO music because of that name. That triangle screams "LOOK! I'M HERE! PLEASE CHECK MY MUSIC PLZZZ". Maybe he's good, but...

You know when an underground artist is using their real name? There's no fooling you!

i'm thinking of starting an acoustic project called jon lenon.. guess it won't go down too well?

edit: or johhn lennnon

  On 6/14/2011 at 1:59 AM, AcrossCanyons said:

I can be turned on to/off a band/artist by the name quite easily if I'm honest. If I catch a good name chances of me listening to them is increased quite a lot.

I'm the same way. I expressed my feelings on this topic in the com truise thread and caught some heat from it. it was funny with wevie stonder and i do love gnarls Barkley but in this day and age naming yourself after a celebrity is quite a cop out and quite unoriginal. because of that, I would assume the music they make is the same way just by hearing one of these types of band names.

Next thing you know a guy will use the name Com Truise or something.

I think to use your real name is to associate your entire life and everything you've ever done or been with your musical output, which could be seen as a bit pretentious. I don't really want to put myself out there like that. Then again making up a music persona with a name seems weird really. I don't think there is a right answer but I personally don't want to make music under my full name because I don't want it to completely define me, it's just a thing I do. I'm not sure why music is different to anything else though, if I wrote a book I'd probably use my name.

Alvis Parsley is the first one I encountered in the world of IDM (or should that be drill n bass?)

i find acronyms to be quite shit, too.

R.E.P.R.E.S.E.N.T. !

  On 6/14/2011 at 11:41 AM, jules said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 1:59 AM, AcrossCanyons said:

I can be turned on to/off a band/artist by the name quite easily if I'm honest. If I catch a good name chances of me listening to them is increased quite a lot.

 

I'm the same way. I expressed my feelings on this topic in the com truise thread and caught some heat from it. it was funny with wevie stonder and i do love gnarls Barkley but in this day and age naming yourself after a celebrity is quite a cop out and quite unoriginal. because of that, I would assume the music they make is the same way just by hearing one of these types of band names.

Yep, I'm with you guys on this, there's a handful of artists that I won't even bother with because their moniker either screams hipster kitsch or fails the do-I-feel-like-a-retard-saying-this-out-loud test.

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know cus I wouldn't eat the filthy mutherfucker.

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:44 PM, Bob Dobalina said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 11:41 AM, jules said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 1:59 AM, AcrossCanyons said:

I can be turned on to/off a band/artist by the name quite easily if I'm honest. If I catch a good name chances of me listening to them is increased quite a lot.

 

I'm the same way. I expressed my feelings on this topic in the com truise thread and caught some heat from it. it was funny with wevie stonder and i do love gnarls Barkley but in this day and age naming yourself after a celebrity is quite a cop out and quite unoriginal. because of that, I would assume the music they make is the same way just by hearing one of these types of band names.

 

Yep, I'm with you guys on this, there's a handful of artists that I won't even bother with because their moniker either screams hipster kitsch or fails the do-I-feel-like-a-retard-saying-this-out-loud test.

 

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know cus I wouldn't eat the filthy mutherfucker.

all this boring hating-on-twisted-celebrity-names-chitchat aside, Com Truise's music is actually pretty good. i like the name, too.

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:26 AM, Enter a new display name said:

**waits for someone to make music as Blames Jake**

I can't believe nobody loled at this. I mean we all know Enter has the worst name ever but still, LOL!

Just fuckin w/ you dude.

i've never been turned off by a name

soooo...there's just now an influx of bad artist names? wow

like JUST now?

  On 6/14/2011 at 2:44 PM, Bob Dobalina said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 11:41 AM, jules said:

  On 6/14/2011 at 1:59 AM, AcrossCanyons said:

I can be turned on to/off a band/artist by the name quite easily if I'm honest. If I catch a good name chances of me listening to them is increased quite a lot.

 

I'm the same way. I expressed my feelings on this topic in the com truise thread and caught some heat from it. it was funny with wevie stonder and i do love gnarls Barkley but in this day and age naming yourself after a celebrity is quite a cop out and quite unoriginal. because of that, I would assume the music they make is the same way just by hearing one of these types of band names.

 

Yep, I'm with you guys on this, there's a handful of artists that I won't even bother with because their moniker either screams hipster kitsch or fails the do-I-feel-like-a-retard-saying-this-out-loud test.

 

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know cus I wouldn't eat the filthy mutherfucker.

Word on the Strengph Gs!