You’ve Named Your Band, Now What? 4 Essential Steps To Follow

Once the fun part of picking a unique and memorable band name is done, there are some important steps you need to take immediately afterwards in order to properly secure your carefully selected moniker among the ranks of others.

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Guest Post by Hugh McIntyre on the Sonicbids Blog 

What do you do after you've dubbed yourselves Arcade Fire? (Photo by Kevin Westenberg)

Ok, so you've decided to make music. That's wonderful! Welcome to the community! The music that you'll be creating is obviously the most important thing you're going to have to work on, but that doesn't mean there aren't other things to think about. Doing this whole "being a musician" thing comes with responsibilities if you want to make it far and be smart about it. Just after you've started your career and named your project (whether that's an Arcade Fire-sized band or just you and a computer), here are a few essential next steps you need to take care of before you go any further.

1. Reserve the name on social media

This is an easy first step and one you should do as quickly as possible. By now, plenty of names are already taken on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and the like, so you may have to get a little creative. For example, if your band name is The ____ (insert whatever word hasn't already been used for a band name), that might not be available on the most popular social channels. If that's so, consider doing something along the lines of "The _____ rock," "The _____ music," or "The ____ singer," if you're going it alone.

When you're registering all these social channels, keep two things in mind: make it simple, and stay consistent. Do your best to keep the name short and as easy to remember as you can. While it may be fun to think of some other phrase that's possibly funny and would look great after an @ symbol, it isn't a great idea when it comes to branding. People will remember you for your online names these days, and don't underestimate that. If it's long or confusing, it's probably not a good fit.

Once you've chosen a name, make sure you keep that across all social platforms. If your name isn't available on one, don't change it up on others to accommodate what's offered. Check all of the social channels you intend to be on, and make your name the same on all of them. If that means you need to go with a second-choice name ("The _____ rock"), so be it.

2. Buy the website domain

This comes right after securing your social channels, and you should do it almost as quickly. I'd suggest going for social media before your website, as one has definitely overtaken the other in terms of which is more important. Sure, a website is a good thing to have, but social comes first these days. Hell, even if you never actually get around to making the website (which I don'tsuggest), it's still good to have the domain secured just