Band names are hard. They’re hard to agree upon and often they don’t change when your sound or style changes over time. Snoop Dogg recently announced that he would change his name from Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion, moving from rap to reggae. He’s changing his style and attempting to shed the associations he had to gangsta rap. But changing your name isn’t any easier than choosing one in the first place. So if you’re considering changing your name, here are some tips to help you along:

Prep Your Web Properties
First, make sure that you can purchase the new domain name that you want and that no other band is currently using that name, URL, Facebook page, etc. Once you’re in the clear, prep all of your pages: your website, BandCamp, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and anything else you may use. When the day comes, switch them all over at once.

Don’t Forget Your Old Pages
Make sure you keep your old web pages and social media pages for a time, and redirect them all to the new pages. You don’t want to loose fans in the process of your name change.

Keep Your Fans in the Loop
Let your fans know your rationale behind the name change. If you have a newsletter, include a note to your fans. If you blog, post it there and share it on your social media pages.

Make Some Noise
It’s worth creating some hype around your name change to get your fans excited and to usher in the new name. Use a big show to help spread the word and if you can get any media to cover your name change, that’s even better.

Go With It
Once you make the switch, be sure to use the new name everywhere. On stage, on banners, on your website, on your social media pages. It’s yours. Now run with it.

At the end of the day, let your music speak for itself. If the fans like your music, they’ll keep coming back no matter what name you go by.

Tell us what you think! Have you changed your band name recently?

– The SongCast Crew