Why name it that?

Artist Name: Research and Ideas

The name of an artist is a big part of the artists overall success of them; if they are called a name which is relevant and current with their target audience then their success is much more likely. In order to come up with a name for our artist, we have to look closely at existing alternative artists, particularly females, in order to come up with a good name for Izzie. 

Existing Alternative Artist names; 

These existing artists have names which are well known and world famous and have come from a back story of some sort. Researching these existing names will give us inspiration and we will be able to come up with something creative. 

1) Nirvana; Kurt Cobain said Nirvana was chosen because "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk rock name like the Angry Samoans." Nirvana is an oxymoron to the 90's grunge rock band, as it means a state of tranquility according to Buddhism. 
2)Vampire Weekend; Singer Ezra Koenig fancied making his own version of vampire movie The Lost Boys, set in Cape Cod (a starring location on VW’s debut album) and featuring a character called Walcott (who also has his own song on the record). It never really took off but the movie title stuck around.
3) Lana Del Rey; “I wanted a name I could shape the music towards,” the former Lizzy Grant told Vogue magazine. “I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba – Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside.”

4) The 1975; Singer Matt Healy took his band’s name from scribbling in a book of beat poetry he’d acquired from an artist. “On the back page there were loads of suicidal messages and it was dated ‘1st June, The 1975’,” he told Fame Magazine. “The use of the word ‘The’ preceding the date really stuck with me.”

5)Moloko; Mark Brydon and Roisin Murphy’s avant-dance duo were named after the slang for ‘milk’ in Anthony Burgess’s dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange. Synth-poppers Heaven 17 also took their name from the book, as did 90s indie also-vans Campag Velocet.

All of these names have some sort of Alternative edge to them which make them unique as well as allowing them to fit well into the alternative genre. Each name gives them a unique spark and allows an audience to develop an attachment to the band. Most of these artists got their inspiration from other interests such as novels or previous artists, as well as just seeing a random title and gaining all inspiration from that. 

Lorde's real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor and her inspiration was from her profound admiration for the concept of royalty and monasteries. The original name she utilized was 'Lord' until she found that adding an 'e' to make Lorde would allow it to become more feminine and also added a sense of creativity to the name. Her song 'royals' was also inspired by this too. 

So... what to name our artist???

When it comes to naming our artist (Izzie), we have to consider all of her personality traits as well as overall image as an artist, including her style and vibe which she gives to the audience. However, whilst considering Izzie we also have to think about and consider what it is that the audience want. In our next focus group we plan to have a range of names we have come up with and ask them which they think the best name would be for a female artist within the alternative genre which appears as if it would suit Izzie well in the music industry. 

Her name could come from a personal inspiration to Izzie which is something that she feels would fit her well, however it could also be a play on words of her name for example, Izzie's insitials are I.N.C, so the name 'Inc' pronounced 'Ink' for example could be effective.