shutterstock_164344157DJ Jazzy Jeff, A-Trak, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris …

Choosing a DJ name is one of the most difficult parts of becoming a DJ. Your handle needs to say something about who you are. It needs to be memorable. It needs to be a name that you won’t be tired of by next month. It should also be one that will see you through your career. How do you distill all of that down to one perfect name?

I have no idea. What I mean is that there’s no perfect solution. You just have to do your own soul searching.

I can tell you that a whole lot of DJs turn to their friends and family for suggestions. That’s an obvious route to take, but it’s also a successful one. Your friends and family know you best. They know your quirks, what you like and who you really are. They’re also able to see you from a different perspective than you can see yourself. That view of you taken from a slight distance often results in the perfect DJ name.

What if you don’t want to rely on friends and family? Lucky you, I asked DJ Lee Dyson for his expert advice on not only how to choose a DJ name, but also what factors to keep in mind while you’re pondering the possibilities.

DJ Lee’s career is long and impressive. And I love the name of his company – Hey Mister DJ! With clients like Sony Pictures Television, Eddie Murphy and Disney among others, Lee’s an expert at spinning for any kind of audience in any part of the country whether it be in large clubs or private lounges. Lee knows all about DJing. He also knows all about the art and science of choosing the right DJ name.

“Make sure it’s easy to pronounce,” Lee says.
 “Make sure it’s catchy or has a ‘stickiness’ factor to it.
Make sure its radio friendly. If you pick a name that’s crude or dirty, it may prevent you from being given a shout out or booked for more professional events down the road. Does your name translate easily into other languages?”

In other words, think ahead. Your DJ name is your business, and should be given the serious consideration any business choice deserves.

“Picking a DJ name is kind of like getting a tattoo,” Lee advises. “You must realize it’s going to be with you for a long time and should reflect your style and personality. If it works, I suggest doing a play on your regular name or modifying your initials.”

As an example, Lee reminds me that DJ AM’s first name is Adam. “But AM also suggests that when he spins, you’ll dance late into the AM hours. Another is DJ Justin Credible.” I love that one.

Admittedly, coming up with a play on words for your own name that also makes sense is no walk in the park. But you’re a professional DJ now, and making the effort to work on a good DJ name will pay off for you down the line.

“Also, think about a name that elicits the type of emotions you want to be associated with your personality and music style,” Lee continues. “Will your style be chill and laid back or hardcore and peak hour?” Awesome tip! The emotional impact that words can have isn’t always top of mind when so much of your time is focused on finding the next gig. Make sure you give it serious thought.

As I mentioned earlier, if you’re planning on DJing a long time, you might want to think about choosing a name that will see you through any changes in music styles. Lee suggests adding a DJ name to your real name. For example, “DJ Turbo aka Lee Dyson.”

“Something like this allows you to have one music style associated with one name and a different one with your given name,” he says. “That’s a biggie to think about. If you plan to produce music, then maybe you want one name for performing and another for releasing music if they are totally different genres. In fact, if you start DJing now and eventually plan to produce more later you might consider dropping ‘DJ’ and just going with a name, like Tiësto.”

I’ve spent a fair bit of time blogging about how important consistent marketing is for DJs. It’s not just about how you advertise your business. It’s about how you tell your story, and how your name reflects that. “Think about what your logo would look like with various names,” DJ Lee recommends. “Branding is very important; so you’ll most likely need a logo, and you’ll need to decide if you’ll hire a designer or create your own. Search ‘DJ names’ in Google images and browse through all the different DJ logos to get a feel for what direction and style you’ll want to go with. I find thinking about how your potential DJ names might look as a logo on flyers, website, etc … helps dial things in.”

I asked Lee how he came up with his own DJ name. “I was told that I have a ‘cool sounding name’ so I didn’t need to come up with anything like ‘DJ Turbo’ etc. Also, for me it was because if I ever ended up building a reputation or brand, I wanted it to be directly connected to my family name. So that is a personal decision you may want to consider.”

Coming up with your personal DJ name is one thing. Imagine if, like Lee, you’re running a DJ company. You’ll need to go through the whole process a second time.

“Look for a name that reflects the style you wish to represent,” Lee suggests. “Will your DJ company be more ‘cool’ and cutting edge or more professional and traditional? [It should be] something that is easy to type and will come up easily in search engines. Will your company provide just DJs or also sound, lighting and other options? If so, then you may want to use the word entertainment or productions as ‘DJ’ can be too limiting.”

So, you’ve followed DJ Lee’s advice. You’ve spent hours considering what name might best represent your story. Now you’re ready to put together that press kit, right? Not so fast. DJ Lee suggests you take one final step before sealing the deal.

“Once you’ve narrowed down some names,” he says, “make sure you do a domain search, [and as important] a trademark search, to know for certain that the name is available. So many people make the mistake of putting money into a name, and then later find out it’s already trademarked by another entity. Try namecheck.com, Google and the United States Patent and Trademark Office”

Let me know your own story. How did you come up with your DJ name?