Why can't I use my record label or a description of my music as my artist name?

Your artist name should be as individual and specific as your own name. It’s how your fans know who they are listening to, how they find your music again, and how they recommend it to other music fans. Our distribution partners have very specific guidelines to avoid confusion among the millions of artists in the world. One of them is that your name cannot be what they term “generic”. Music performed by a “generic” artist name may be rejected, hidden, or unavailable to stream or download.

What are “Generic” artist names?

• Genres of music are not names. Please do not submit your music with an artist name like, “Tango,” “Acoustic Piano Man,” “MC Hip-Hop,” or, “The Classics”.
• Descriptions of your music are not names. If your music consists of rain sounds, your artist name cannot be “Rainfall” or “Rain Sounds.” If you have written an album of sad love songs, your artist name cannot be “Sad Love Songs”.
• When to listen to your music is not a name. Please do not use artist names like “Music for Relaxing,” “Merry Christmas,” or “Party Songs”.
• The name of a famous artist, even if you change it a little, is not your name. Please do not use artist names like, “Be Y Once,” “Ade$e,” or “Smiles Davis”. You will not be heard by their fans and your music will be rejected by the distribution services.

For more information about selecting your artist name, please check out our DIY Blog.