Other artist in similar genre with same name

[pepeluis]

Hi Folks,
I am getting ready to sign up to an aggregator (well overdue) to get my songs available for purchase on the main online music stores. I specialise in Latin music (although do write and submit to Taxi in other genres) but I am finding that my name is very common in the Spanish speaking world and there are many artists with the same or very similar name. One in particular with exactly the same name (1st name and surname) as me has 4 albums for sale on i Tunes, he also has a Facebook identity which is virtually identical to my FB indentity, the only difference is I join up my first and 2nd name followed by the word`music` all as one word wheras he has the same name and surname followed by the word `music` but all as 3 separate words.
I know the best advice i have found so far by searching online etc is to add initials etc and this might be my only choice but just wanted to get any ideas or experiences from you folks.
This is my real name so I know I am perfectly entitled to use it but I don't want buyers ending up buying his tracks without realising it is not me (guess it could work both ways). I want to avoid problems down the line.
I actually have a double barrelled Spanish surname but I usually only use the 2nd word in my surname as the whole surname has always proven problematic (and mis-spelt/pronounced) in the English speaking world, I am considering using my entire surname (10 letters double barrelled with a specific accent character on one of the letters) but this potentially could be more difficult for people to find me online although it would be more distinctive.
Any thoughts would be welcome, thanks in advance.

[mikeymike2000]

Hello,

If your goal is to create a brand of music that people can easily find I would highly suggest making a stage name in light of the fact there are several others who have the same or similar name as yours. You will want to be nothing like them in terms of name. However, to go through all this effort would only be worth it if you are regularly performing live shows and in which case you should have CD's on hand as well.

If you do not perform live on a regular basis putting your music "out there" or "up there" will not do much good if people don't know who you are. So if that is the case it may be best to keep the similarity in hopes that people stumble upon you that way.

Also, I am not sure what an aggregator is but you can go direct to iTunes and CD Baby yourself.

This is a great question and something you should give serious consideration to as it has the potential to make a big difference, depending on your overall plan.

And if you are thinking to make a stage name, don't be shy to make something so outrageous that you look at it and say "how the heck do you pronounce that". Kind of like Englebert Humperdink. That's a name that gets ones attention.

[pepeluis]

Thanks for your reply and thoughts mikeymike2000.

I do earn most of my living from live shows as part of a performing Flamenco dance show (I play guitar and sing) and also with my Latin band and as solo performer doing all kinds of gigs so there is some opportunity to sell CDs at gigs.

When I do a google search for my name (with shortened surname) plus the word `music` my music for media website comes up first along with the following 8 entries. If I put my first name plus full surname (double barrelled) into google I come up on first 7 entries. These are there because various entertainment agencies have me or my various acts on their books plus I teach Flamenco Guitar and also have a website promoting a duo I am part of performing Latin and Jazz.

as i am writing this I am starting to feel that maybe I don't need to find an alternative name as my real name actually has some track record and internet presence already. I am loathed to have to change my artist name!

There's a well-known author called Kate Mosse and I bet people have bought her books thinking they're about Kate Moss the model! There is a one-letter difference in their names but that is probably enough to differentiate them commercially, on some level I just don't want to have to deviate spelling from what is already associated with me (and is my real name) , if I include either my middle name or initial of it then I am no-where on Google first page.

I have had some physical CD sales as a result of my songs appearing on TV shows/Films such as The Glades, Los Bandoleros, Ugly Betty etc but just need to get my online sales up and running as I don't know how many sales I would have had if downloads had been available. The CD sales have all been via a UK based outlet (I live in the UK) but buyers have been from the USA as many of the above shows are bigger in the USA and only on Satelite TV here. to me it makes sense to make it as easy as possible for international buyers via downloads.

mikeymike2000 ....From what I understand one cannot go direct to i Tunes , you have to go through an aggregator, CD Baby are an aggregator (amongst other things) but there are many other online distributors able to make tracks available to many online stores.

I like your thought about Engelbert Humperdink! it made me think that maybe having a tricky name might work in my favour!

Apologies if my post is a bit disjointed, guess I am working through this issue and want to get it right, not have problems down the line and not lose sales to someone else.
Any thoughts always welcome and appreciated, many thanks

[mojobone]

You'd likely think Mojo Bone is such an uncommon name that I'd never have a similar problem, but as it happens, there's a blues-metal offshoot of a Swedish prog-metal band that sat on my most obvious domain name for well over a decade, offering nothing but a logo more appropriate for Chickenfoot, and a "site under construction" banner. They actually also made two or three pretty decent records under the no-space version of my name, which...let's just say I'll not take credit; not bad, but not me. There's also an entity without the space between, that's been gigging around parts of Georgia, the state, not the country, inflating my RevebNation numbers and supplying me with phantom 'gigs'. C'est la vie.

As of this writing, I could have mojobone.com as a domain, but in the interim, I've become so much more than that, so I pivoted. A new all-me, all the time site is in the works, like a Spaniard.

[pepeluis]

Hi All,
Thanks Mojobone for your response and others for viewing my post.

Mojobone, does what you say means that you just stuck with your artist name as you had it and just lived with the fact that another band had the same name or have you naturally migrated away from that artist name?
My artist name (and actual name) is Jose Leon, my music for media web address is www.joseleonmusic.com and my full real name is Jose Luis Dueñas León.

Searching on Google for Jose Leon or Jose Dueñas León brings up plenty of lisitngs (9 out of 10) about me on page 1 but if I substituting initials for any of the words in my name means I don't really come up on Google with any prominence.
The people who have bought my CDs would have found me by the name Jose Leon as this was how it appeared on The Glades online episode info and also how it appears on Tunefind which gives details of some TV shows some of my songs appear in (The Glades/The Fosters/Ugly Betty).
The more I've been thinking about it the more reluctant I am to alter my name, the other artist(s) with the same name don't really come up with so much online prominence and part of me is thinking `why should I be the one to adjust my name?`
Do you folks think this is a mistake and that I should change how it appears? Am I just being and stubborn and causing myself potential problems in the future?. It would just feel a bit like wiping my online presence away and starting all over again when it comes to this issue. Got nothing against other artists with the same name and wish them luck but at the same time am reluctant to give up whatever presence I have already built however humble it may be.
I value all of your thoughts greatly! many thanks to all!

[mojobone]

If you come up first in search, you probably have little to worry about, other than staying ahead of the pack and in this biz, you're gonna work at that, regardless. I still go by Mojo, cuz it's all anybody's called me for over thirty years, and it's still on my business cards, but moving forward, it's gonna be under the new company name, cuz I'm about to get myself incorporated. This time, I got my domain locked down.

Outlasting the Swedes wasn't much of a trick; getting #zuckerbully to recognize me as an actual person on Facebook has been a bigger challenge. After getting scraped, cyberhassled and locked out of my account a half dozen times, I gave up; as far as I'm concerned FB is a less colorful place without me, and also...I'm getting a lot more done, since I left.

[pepeluis]

Hi Mojobone and all readers.
After reading your and others posts and laying out my thoughts in this thread I am coming to agree with you that as I am easily found on Google and I too have been known by this name for several years there is little reason to change name. The Facebook situation is a bit annoying as the only difference between mine and the other guys identity is that my page title is as one word (as in my domain name) and his is separated with spaces. As you suggest it is up to me to have good content/music and stay competitive. This choice still feels better than having to re-name myself with all the hassle that could involve. If I make my identity too different or even slightly different it could mean losing out on potential sales as any information found online about my tv/film placements would still have been as supplied to production companies by the library responsible for the placement under my name as it is currently .
I do not mean to be conflictive about it as we are all in the same boat as artists but it is as much a problem for anyone else with same name as it is mine.
I am not sure if it would be a problem with i Tunes and other online stores as it would potentially mean having 2 artists in similar genre with exactly the same name.they may not allow this?
I can research this before moving forward or in anyone on this forum has any experience they can share that would be really helpful.
Thanks very much for your thoughts Mojobone and to all readers.
José

[mojobone]

Please, call me Mojo; all my friends do, and my relatives are all deceased, other than my next-of-kin-by marriage, the Wine Lady. The no-space version of my internet handle came about because of Netscape, so you can refer to me as Dr. Bone or Reverend Bone, but that's only if we're NOT friends. (all of the above are accurate, because I'm an ordained minister, and I have a PHD in the blues)
I prefer having friends and being Mojo, if that's alright with you.