Almost every artist works under a name nobody was born with. The stage name is the one on the poster, the ticket and the recording. Legal names sit in the contract.
Where each name is used
- Stage name: bill, artwork, tickets, streaming platforms, press.
- Legal name: performance contract, invoices, tax forms, work permits, royalty registration.
The contract carries both, usually as 'X, professionally known as Y'. Get it right, because a permit or a payment issued to the wrong name is delayed at best.
Choosing one
Check it before committing. Search it on streaming platforms, in MusicBrainz and at the national trade mark register. A name another artist already uses splits search results, gets the wrong tracks credited, and can end in a demand to stop using it.
Changing one
A change means updating every platform, every collecting society registration and every promoter's records, and the old name keeps surfacing in search for years. Tell the distributor and the society first, because that is where the money is.