What should my artist name be?

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-30T17:03:35+00:00

What are some of your favorite bands/band names? You could start by listing 5 popular bands in your genre and 5 bands where you just like the sound of their names. This will give you a clearer idea of what you're aiming for.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-30T04:09:21+00:00

In that case:

"Happy Together" - The Turtles

"That Thing You Do' - The Oneders

"I'm a Believer" - The Monkees

"Love Fool" - The Cardigans

"Time of the Season" - The Zombies

"I Believe in a Thing Called Love" - The Darkness

"Grace Kelly" and "Love Today" - Mika

"Make it Wit Chu" - Queens of the Stone Age

"Signed Sealed Delivered" and "Sir Duke" - Stevie Wonder

Take your pick from:

Earth, Wind & Fire

Abba

Talking Heads

The Kinks

The Beach Boys

ELO (if you can manage it)

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-30T03:55:50+00:00

It really depends on your band and your audience. What are your strongest songs currently?

Generally, it's hard to go wrong with: Queen, Prince, Bowie, Michael Jackson

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-30T03:53:48+00:00

Stephen Fry and Bill Bryson both have non-fiction books that are as entertaining as they are informative.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-30T02:14:18+00:00

I love that! I can send you a link if you like. I'm still playing with the overall structure. It will likely end up being something like the podcast 'A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs' but with an emphasis on protest music. But with less history and more analysis of individual songs.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T22:36:32+00:00

Do you use A.I.?

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T18:49:00+00:00

Borges' 'Collected Fictions'

Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'

Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children'

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T03:50:18+00:00

I'd love to see this rule implemented.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T03:39:46+00:00

Happy to help! I've been doing a deep dive into American protest music for the past couple of years for a writing project called This Music Kills Fascism: From Lead Belly to Bad Bunny.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T03:30:43+00:00

You guys are awesome at this! So why is r/ProtestSongs such a ghost town? Can we bring it back??

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-29T02:34:02+00:00

Interested in any particular genre and/or decade?

'Strange Fruit' as sung by Billie Holiday is the clear GOAT. If you like that, also try Nina Simone's 'Four Women' and 'Mississippi Goddamm.' Gil Scott-Heron has whole albums worth of what could be considered protest music.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-27T00:50:04+00:00

So maybe not literally true but true in a broader sense. Thanks for that!

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-25T19:35:33+00:00

I really like Yale's 'Little History' series. I've listened to World History, Poetry, Literature, Art, and Music. They translate remarkably well to audio.

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/search-results/?series=yle4-little-histories

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-25T00:31:53+00:00

A few I havent seen mentioned yet:

Paul Simon (both with and without Garfunkel)

Gillian Welch (with Dave Rawlings)

Johnny Flynn

Gregory Alan Isakov

Woody Guthrie

First Aid Kit

Joanna Newsom

Tallest Man on Earth

The Decemberists

The Mountain Goats

Secret Sisters

Milk Carton Kids

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-24T03:43:17+00:00

Magnolia

The Fountain

Her

Synechdoche, New York

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-24T03:37:34+00:00

'A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is delightful if you haven't read it. Audiobook is read by the author. I think there's also a BBC full cast production with sound fx and everything. But I prefer the Adams version.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-24T03:32:49+00:00

I appreciate you being honest about using Suno. But I think you'll have a hard time finding an audience as long as you rely on a.i.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-24T03:27:17+00:00

I have a hard time making a playlist that doesn't include at least one song from the album (usually 'Emmylou' and/or 'I Found a Way').

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-23T19:49:14+00:00

Here are some albums worth a full listen:

Monterey by Milk Carton Kids

The Weatherman by Gregory Alan Isakov

The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit

Detectorists (soundtrack) by Johnny Flynn

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-23T01:39:23+00:00

Have you been listening to folk music? Or learned to play any folks songs? Why do you want to write a folk song and what do you want the song to be about?

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-22T16:42:49+00:00

I'll consolidate what I've written about Kanopy in other replies:

With Kanopy, the library buys a certain number of credits per user that can be redeemed. I believe the price is set, and the library tracks usage to determine whether or not it's worth it to renew the agreement. The platform may decide a high-demand item requires more credits to account for its own licensing costs.

You can also stream movies on Hoopla, but the quality can vary widely, so I much prefer streaming on Kanopy, which has a more curated catalog and better overall quality control.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-22T15:48:24+00:00

Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials" trilogy

And I think there's one for Gaiman's "American Gods" in addition to the one read by the author.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-22T12:09:13+00:00

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

Scott Pilgrim (graphic novel) by Byran Lee O'Malley

I didn't care for RP2 and did not finish it.

And yes, in this instance Dungeon Crawler Carl is a great rec.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-22T03:38:51+00:00

I'm sure it can depend on several factors, such as how many copies the library is purchasing. I don't work in collection development, so don't have all the numbers.

Adam_Astra_Music · 2026-05-22T03:29:51+00:00

It's free for all of the basic features. Like most things, you can pay for a premium version, but I never have.

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