Is it ok to "steal" a studio name?

[KurtR]

I've been thinking of ideas for my studio for months and EVERY time I have a good idea I google it and a studio already has the name. I've went throught ALOT of names! I try to come up with neato creative names but they still are mostly taken. Is it a bad idea to use a name that you already know is a studio? I can't come up with anything!

[T_R_S]

I would think the answer to that would be no.
There is a studio near where I am called Right Tracks
There is a studio in NYC called Right Track.
I think that is way too close.

HINT:
Look on a Map near where you live I bet there are lots of cool names.

[C Heat]

Keep trying if you wanna be the first.

It's hard tho.

I got a beauty that I'm currently registering.

100% original. Not taken anywhere (business/studio/product/nothing!).

Sorry for the brag.

Good luck.

Better yet, PM me with what your first/favourite preferences were and what you're into/record/style. I might be able to nail one for you.

(I'm in advertising).

[XSergeantD]

Go with some type of original. I used to search the web every few months to see who to sick the lawyers on. Granted it was a big name, but you'll come up with something eventually that's original. Don't just check the web cause people don't always register their names which they should, check to see if the name is registered before you give up. It's cheap if you do undercut someone else who's not registered the name yet, but searching around will give you more ideas. Don't give up.

[Dave Martin]

I was going to call my place "The Library" (There are around 5,000 books on the shelves here), but didn't - because of Jules. And the books in Jules' place are fakes!

[warhead]

Fake books?

The studio next door to FEA is called "The Jam Room" and I met a guy who worked at a Jam Room at AES NY at the Gearslutz party. There are some names that are just common, think about how many tire stores are called "Discount Tire" across the country.

War

[Rodney Gene]

Put your vibe, vision and energy up here and let the creative collective slut factor help you out!

Much Respect,

[Jules]

There is a secret door in this back "book wall"

[AdamJay]

i lucked out that my name wasn't yet taken. (bold recording)

boldstudio.com and boldstudio.co.uk were taken
but those are design studios.

Also i prefered to let the name of my business speak as the service itself, and not as the location, if that makes any sense. That is why i chose "Bold Recording" over "Bold Studio(s)" I was leaning towards "bold statement...." but that wasn't 'bold' enough. I wanted a name that made as much an impression as the work does... and Bold was the natural choice. Short, Concise, Powerful, Easy to Remember (important for referrals!). i was amazed it hadn't been taken.
My girlfriend hates it, maybe thats why i kept it.

paperwork went through for it last month. woohoo!

good luck finding a name.
some devices people use to help is Street names, personal knicknames, audible adjectives (hell "Audible Adjective" itself is kinda cool... you can have that if ya want ;-) )

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by Jules

There is a secret door in this back "book wall"

No doors here, only books - thousands of REAL books... THis is just the tracking room - there are more books in the booths...

[wwittman]

I'd suggest Abbey Road is always a good choice.

[robot gigante]

Very nice, Dave!

I try to keep books out of the studio, I like to read too much so they are kind of distracting. Got a pretty good collection at home though!

[A101]

did you read all those books?
really though, are they functional as diffusers?

[chrispick]

A studio's name is much less crucial than most other businesses' names. You'll only falter if you name it something that puts off prospective clients (e.g., Expensive Studios, Mediocrity Studios, Ku Klux Klan Studios, etc.).

Come up with a name that's either unique to you or your locale. Honestly, can you really fail if you name after its locale in some way (e.g., Ninth Street Studios, 609 Studios, Apartment Seven Studios, Gravel Road Studios, Tool Shed Studios, whatever)?

If you got "money-where-your-mouth-is" kind of balls, name it after you. Then, it's all about rep from the get-go.

[Frequency]

Per Gessle from Roxette owns a studio called "Tits and Ass".

Haha.

[joelpatterson]

A names sets a tone, but it's really you that will make it or break it. Sometimes people introduce me and say the studio name, and I just kinda laugh... I mean... it's all just me, folks.

[MASSIVE Master]

If the cool "one word" names are taken, try the adjective/noun thing... Just make sure the noun stands well on its own... Using band names as an example:

Led Zepplin (Zepplin)

Black Sabbath (Sabbath)

White Lion - See? "Lion" doesn't work by itself.

And so on...

So if there's a noun you're really after, throw an adjective in front of it and there you go.

Or you can use totally opposing combinations - "Liquid Granite Studios" -- "Flying Sandwich Recording" and so on...

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

If the cool "one word" names are taken, try the adjective/noun thing... Just make sure the noun stands well on its own... Using band names as an example:

Led Zepplin (Zepplin)

Black Sabbath (Sabbath)

White Lion - See? "Lion" doesn't work by itself.

And so on...

So if there's a noun you're really after, throw an adjective in front of it and there you go.

Or you can use totally opposing combinations - "Liquid Granite Studios" -- "Flying Sandwich Recording" and so on...

That's what I did. My custom music / sound design gig is called "Imperial Go Cart Music + Sound." The concept being "high-class, yet homespun." Google it, if you care. It sticks in peoples' heads which is as much as I want it to do.

[ToddF]

There is a Master Mix here in Minneapolis and one in Nashville. So yes it does happen.

I would just avoid the obvious bad names as someone else listed. A couple we have laughed about, Human Factor Studios. We always joked, hey we accidentally erased your track, we are only human.

They are a bunch of Monkey studios, Smart Monkey Studios, Flying Monkey, Monkey Boy. I don't get those.

Todd

[RCM - Ronan]

Most of the cool classic studios do not have names that are related to recording. Ocean Way, Abbey Road, Mussle Shoals... Just name it after something or a place you love.

[Midlandmorgan]

Come up with a name that's either unique to you or your locale

Exactly what we did....Wireline Studio.

Unless you are familiar with oil fields, you would have no idea what a wire line is, nor how many roads are called that...

Sidebar#1 - that's how I came up with the name...I was out in the middle of a rather extensive rig farm (don't ask..) contemplating my future, and what to call the operation...looked up and saw a handpainted sign that said "Wireline Rd" ahead...and that was that.

Sidebar#2 - I had no idea that Michael Wagener had a place called "WireWorld"... I guess the two are far enough apart as to not create any confustion, and I never intended to capitalize on a sound-alike name....I would hope that if Mr Wagener has any issue with the similarities, he would have contacted me by now (its been 10 years)

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by robot gigante

Very nice, Dave!

I try to keep books out of the studio, I like to read too much so they are kind of distracting. Got a pretty good collection at home though!

Me, too - there are probably almost as many at the house as at the studio (and I'm sure that one day there will be more at the house, since there's more space for shelves...

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by A101

Hey Dave,
did you read all those books or are you just trying to diffuse us?

ba da Boom! Thanks, folks! He'll be here all week! Try the veal...

[Kestral]

I'm always practical when it comes to names. When I was a little kid and had a stuffed animal that was a dog, I named it "Doggy".

When I did have a studio, the street it was on was Greenberry, so called it Greenberry Studio. Easy breezy.

[Stizz]

I am having a hard time deciding between "Ray's Original Studio". or "Original Ray's Studio", or "Famous Ray's Studio", "Ray's Studio", "World-Famous Ray's Original Studio"

[drmmrboy]

Originally Posted by wwittman

I'd suggest Abbey Road is always a good choice.

Shabby Road, Crabby Toad, Crappy load, Flabby toed

Or maybe an alternate spelling.
Ab-E Rowed, Aahbee Rode

[Dyer Maker]

Originally Posted by Stizz

I am having a hard time deciding between "Ray's Original Studio". or "Original Ray's Studio", or "Famous Ray's Studio", "Ray's Studio", "World-Famous Ray's Original Studio"

Or Ray Parker Jr.s unfortunately named Ameraycan Studios. Nice studio though despite the dumb name.

[djui5]

There's not a lot of people in this industry with my last name, but there's a few, so I don't imagine someone taking my name would be an issue...
"The Wright Mix"


If someone did though..."it'd be curtains"

[Mudnoc]

Originally Posted by chrispick

Ku Klux Klan Studios.

That's too funny.... Can you imagine the response you would get by opening at studio by that name in downtown Atlanta.....

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by rcm

Just name it after something or a place you love.

"Elbow Deep In My Wife's Ass Studios" ...hmm, doesn't quite convey our aesthetic.


Wait, no, it does.