You may or may not remember the famous line from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But it’s important to remember your own name. 

I know what you’re thinking… Who doesn’t remember their name? You’d be surprised how many bands have issues because of little things like “the,” “and,” or punctuation and spelling.   

Is it Rolling Stones or The Rolling Stones? Huey Lewis and The News or Huey Lewis & the News? Blink 182 or Blink–182? REM or R.E.M.? The Beetles or The Beatles? 

Why does this matter?

  • If you don’t get it right, no one else will.

    If you’ve ever known someone who goes by a different name than their legal name, it can be rather confusing when you hear them used interchangeably. The same goes for your band or artist name. Don’t introduce yourself as Goodwin Brothers one day and The Goodwin Brothers another. It confuses everyone. Listeners don’t know which one is correct, and ultimately, your music suffers because of it.   

  • Consistency is key.

    No matter what name you land on, keep it consistent. The more that people hear you and others refer to you or your band by the correct name, the stronger your brand will become. Sometimes it’s worth clarifying publicly. Take singer/songwriter and producer Tonéx, for example. His debut album was entitled Pronounced Toe-nay with the intent of setting the record straight from the beginning. 

  • Metadata rules the world.

    If your name isn’t consistent across the metadata, it will create multiple unmanaged profiles. Worst of all, it splits your stats. The true figure for monthly listeners can’t be known if you have several different profiles—a few singles under WE ARE ONE… an album or two under We Are One… and some additional profiles from collaborations where they didn’t get your name right.  This makes you look less successful and frustrates your fans. It also makes it harder to find your music. The brand you’ve worked so hard to build falls apart if you aren’t meticulous with your metadata. Using different artist profiles will determine whether or not your music shows up on features like Spotify’s Release Radar or Pandora’s Audio Messages. Don’t leave money on the table.

Making sure your brand is consistent across the board will make you look better, create a better user experience, and increase your revenue. Good consistency may not bring you compliments, but inconsistency will welcome criticism because it’s more noticeable. The name you pick is less important than how you present it.