One of the most important aspects of getting started on your DJ career is choosing a cool DJ name. There are many ways that you can go about choosing the right professional name, but there are other factors to consider other than how cool the name sounds.
The good news is that choosing a name doesn’t have to be a difficult as you think. Some DJs stumble upon their name by accident while others use a lifelong nickname. Before you choose one or more cool DJ names, consider these 5 tips.
Real Name vs. Stage Name
Some DJs are lucky enough that their given names are cool enough to suffice as a DJ name. But most of us are John Miller or Kate Stephens and those are respectable names for an office, but plain boring for an exciting name in nightlife entertainment.
Since most new DJs or comeback DJs will use a stage name, the best place to start is choosing cool DJ names that are close to your own name. These names may not be cool enough for your DJ persona but they are a good place to start. By changing up a few letters you may find that you’ve found a really cool DJ name.
Domain & Web Presence
In this new age of DJing, having a web presence is as important as having a compelling sound and unique tracks. When you’ve narrowed down your cool DJ names you should hit the web and find out the availability of those names.
First check to see if your new DJ name has an available domain name, Facebook URL & Twitter handle. This will let you know how easy you’ll be to find under that DJ name. If you have to add letters or numbers to your DJ name in order to improve your web presence, that’s an indicator that the name may not be the best for you…no matter how cool it is.
Finally you want to see how searchable your cool DJ name is. Like I said, having a significant web presence is essential to building a fan base, networking and expanding your DJ business. If your name is easily searchable—and not yet taken—then you can grow your online presence with a cool DJ name.
Can You Say It
As a DJ you are predisposed to wanting to be unique, from your clothes to your music to your name. Being unique is a good thing, but growing your business and becoming a successful DJ may require that you keep the name easy to pronounce. A name that is easy to pronounce will be easier to remember and easier to find online.
Don’t just take my word for it thought. A new study released this year indicates that people generally form a more positive opinion of names that are easy to pronounce compared to those that are difficult to pronounce. This doesn’t mean you need to choose a DJ name like DJ Bob, but it means that you shouldn’t go overboard in your effort to create unique but cool DJ names.
Branding
All of us, as DJs, want to be true to the music and the beat. But the truth is that success on the level of Tiesto or Steve Aoki means that your brand must be taken into consideration. Your brand will be what not only identifies you but also allows you the freedom and flexibility to make changes in your career.
This means you should stay away from cool DJ names that pigeonhole you into one genre of music or persona.
Make sure your name can appear on large billboards without drawing the attention of censors and decency advocates. You want to make sure you have a name that’s true to your brand but also appeals to your fan base.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list of cool DJ names, start experimenting with fonts and fliers to see how your name will go with the brand you want to create.
Artistic Inspiration
Some DJs choose cool names by drawing inspiration from other artists. Whether you alternate an existing name like Mord Fustang or you choose a name based on characters in literature, film or other forms of art, make sure the cool DJ names you choose is unique.
Deriving inspiration from others is a great method of choosing cool DJ names. Whether it’s from a line in a song or the title of a book or painting, if the DJ name you choose fits the rest of the criteria then you have found the perfect DJ name for you.
There’s no tried and true method of choosing the best DJ names but this is not a decision you should make quickly. Start listing DJ names that you like and allow the list to grow so you have many to choose from. Then begin to remove names from the list that you don’t love or that are unavailable.
Eventually you’ll have just a few cool DJ names from which you can choose and get your career started the right way.
I hope I helped you find some cool DJ names. Email in the box below to get access to Free video DJ lessons that will answer all of your questions on how to become a disk jockey and make yourself a brand!
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