Artist

In my last project, I spent a whole year creating a world for an artist. And only after that, I launched: name, image, logo, visualization and of course, music. Everything went like clockwork because I already knew what and why I was doing.

After proper preparation, the creation of the project is much simpler and more understandable. With an understanding of the concept of the musical genre and your fan, you come up with the name of the artist, his image and music that are as close as possible to this spirit. You are purposefully working on visualization for your social networks, concerts, videos, maybe entire films and video games, and unique merchandise that everyone wants.

Over the years, I have met many talented musicians who make great music but do not have their own «world». And this was a good reason why it was more difficult for them to break into Olympus, why music labels did not want to work with them, and why, unfortunately, they were quickly forgotten.

Some professional musicians invest big money in making the agency that creates «worlds» for them. They understand the significance of this part of the musical project.

There are also serious agencies that are looking for talented musicians and create from them superheroes with their own «world». But it is important to realize that if you are not writing your ideology, then it is likely that what you are offered may contradict your inner feelings and life principles.

Many will now say: «I am ready for anything for the sake of success.» Yes, firstly you simply work and do not pay attention to the fact that this is not your image. But over time, the internal discrepancy will grow and begin to slowly destroy you from the inside. When you begin to understand this, while being already a super successful and accomplished artist, the internal conflict can develop into an external one and lead to sad consequences.

There are situations when agents try to copy already successful musicians at your expense, making you a clown. They do not want to understand and feel you, they just make copy-paste of the music, image, and world of the artist who already exists. There is no guarantee that the second such project will also be in demand. And it is unlikely that they will also want to buy it expensively.

The most valuable and expensive is the concept of TRUE. When you stand on the stage, you feel lively emotions that pulsate from you to the public and back. This interaction cannot be specifically created or purchased. It arises when the artist is really in his image and his organic state of mind and body. This artist can even make grave mistakes during the performance, but still will be loved for who he is. He carries his music and his «world», fills the lives of his listeners, and receives from them a powerful return of love and recognition.

Therefore, it makes sense to look for your unique style, to be yourself and create your world. Stay individual and the public will fall in love with you.

Choosing the name of the artist

«Perfect music is silence, and musicians are creating a beautiful frame around this perfection.»

    Sting

We already have a myth and understanding of the style of music in which we will work. Now is the time to come up with the original name of the artist.

What you need to pay attention to and what you need to check to avoid getting into a situation, that you meet an artist with the same name?

Firstly, your name should be written in Latin if you plan to work worldwide. Some regional artists come up with the name of the artist in their language and spell their name also in their native language. This is permissible if you want to work successfully only in those regions where they understand this language. Therefore, before you start inventing your nickname, you must understand where you want to be implemented.

Every year more and more artists appear, and cool words and pseudonyms are less and less. When you are looking for your name, be sure to check it first on the main Internet sites, such as iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Yandex Music, Beatport, Shazam, etc., so that there are no artists with that name on these sites.

This is very important, otherwise in the future, you will have big problems when publishing your tracks and albums. You just won’t be able to publish anything, since such an artist already exists. Consequently, you will not be able to perform either. But you can be sued for the illegal use of someone else’s name of the artist for their purposes. There are sly ones who change one letter in the name and use it as their own, explaining this by the fact that the name is supposedly free in such a spelling. You can’t do this if you want to become a professional, original artist, and not someone else’s copy. You need a unique and memorable name. If you want to work really at a high level, you should never make such mistakes at the initial stage. It is important to understand that in the music business, the first person to publish a track or album under a specific name already has a 100 % patent for that name. Who was the first in time, that’s own the name.

When you search for a name for yourself, you check not only all the Internet sites from the list above but also the availability of URL addresses in the main social networks: Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Soundcloud, VK, Facebook. I recommend that all social networks have the same URL name. It happens, for example, that two social networks are free, and in the rest, this name is already taken in its pure form. But you can find an alternative in the form of a prefix to the name.

Example: the name Zeskullz is occupied on half of the sites by some strange accounts. What can be done? We take the prefix: official, the, music, DJ, band, com (if you have such a website) and I'm sure that in some combination all social networks will be available.

It is important to analyze how your name will look in spelling and sound in pronunciation. Look at the beginning and the end of the name, how they are balanced among themselves – whether it sounds and looks beautiful and harmonious. The name should be simple, easy to remember, relevant to the time, and modern culture, not cutting the ears and eyes.

Again, as an example, my ZESKULLZ project. I was looking for something new and relevant, with a certain meaning, and that would look and sound rude enough. Initially, it looked like this: THE SKULLS (symbolic meaning – eternity). This name is ideal for heavy, rough, and fashionable music, but I was not happy with how it looks and is written – too simple. I changed the prefix THE to French ZE and made a mirror ending Z, in the end, I got ZESKULLZ. Now it began to look great even in plain text. And when I began to make the logo, I got a perfect balance, which immediately looks confidently on the poster.

These are the key points in creating an image that you should pay attention to and spend some time. Some people are better at listening and will tag you based on how beautiful your name sounds. Other people are visuals, they remember with their eyes, so for them, everything should look beautiful.