Real Name Vs Stage Real

[Kevin and the Squirrels]

Why do some artists change their name?

 

Why should they?

 

Should I?

 

What?

 

How?

[Kevin and the Squirrels]

Sorry Kevin! Sometimes I allows myself to say what I'm thinking without taking the time to state it in a helpful tone. Let me try it again......

I think you may be getting ahead of yourself here. There will plenty of time to consider stage names later. For now, if you're hoping to be treated as a professional, then make it a point to present yourself like a professional. Don't expect folks to see something that you haven't bothered to show them. If you wish to be taken seriously, then make it a point to convey that image in your online activities.

You have to prove to people that you can be what you're hoping to be! One of the first things I learned in business was also one of the most valuable. You'll never get your boss's job by demonstrating that you're capable of doing your job. To get your boss's job, you have to show that you can do HIS....and you have to show that to the folks who matter! In other words, present yourself as if you are the professional that you hope to be.

Now the other side of that coin is this....if you're really NOT concerned about being taken seriously, you don't need a stage name. Why would you? Best advice I can offer....figure out what you're going for, then focus on doing what's necessary to get you there.

Tom

 

Thank you! I really appreciate the directness and honesty.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Kevin and the Squirrels

[Alistair]

Thank you! I really appreciate the directness and honesty.

 Yes, but you still have THAT photo in your profile!

[MikeRobinson]

Amen to that!  "A picture's worth ten thousand words," especially when thousands of people around the world can see it.  Change that profile immediately.  If you want to be treated seriously, you've got to look the part in everything that you present to the public; including right here.  Especially right here.

 

FYI, lots of performers use a stage-name that has become a trademark, without legally changing it.  Vincent Furnier, for example, can cash a check made out to Alice Cooper, which is the name of the fictional character (originally, the name of the band) that he plays in his rock shows.  He's well known as the granddaddy of "theatrical rock-n-roll," and he himself describes it as theater.  He speaks of "Alice" as the third-person that "Alice' is, in the same way that Charlton Heston would speak of "Ben Hur" or of any other of the many hundreds of fictional characters that he portrayed to entertain the public.  If you decide to go on stage as a persona, then you are an actor playing a role.  Your millions of adoring fans might know you [only] by that "other" name, but you don't have to change your driver's license.

 

(At least, it's not as bad as the Great Depression / Vaudeville times that George Burns once wrote about:  "if you bombed out in one city, you changed your name and went back, because you had to eat.")

 

(Or the apparently-true story about Paula Abdul, who went to an audition with a box of leotards.  She was turned-down three times, and each time she left the room, changed outfits, changed her name, and got back in line.  She was picked, and that's how her career began.)

Edited February 5, 2014 by MikeRobinson