OnBiz QUIZ: How difficult can it be to brand a rock band? It's harder than you think.

Why the question?  
It seems counter intuitive to think that it would be a particular challenge to name a rock band.  After all most begin from very inauspicious origins and over time grow to achieve the acclaim and recognition that is to be rightfully theirs.  How could picking a name be so tricky?  As it turns out, the access to information that the internet offers, first in terms of the the job of properly naming a performance group and, on the other hand, properly--i.e., legally--marketing and managing the musical work product of a such group when the time comes to cash in on fame is a two-edged sword.  If you don't pick the right name from the start, changing it later on is not so easy--nor conducive to success.  

The answer [all to impress others how ON BIZ smart you are].
It's an amusing story--amusing, that is, if you don't manage a rock band--that's only made possible in a day and age when a technology that one would otherwise expect would make the whole process easier and yet doesn't.  It's an old calling--playing instruments and/or singing--but a much more sophisticated job to stand out name- and brand-wise, as well as get your wares distributed and sold a without challenge by somebody else who might already have appropriated the name you have your heart on.  

And what happens when you find out--too late--that your choice of group name all those years before was mistaken?...And then you are forced to change it, but at the peril of your continued success, even though your music is the same?  The Wall Street Journal's John Jurgensen, wrote about this last week--and it's a fascinating article for all who [A] are interested in managing rock bands, [B] wonder what's really in a name, or [C] think that effective branding is easy to alter without threatening success!  It'll take you less than five minutes to read, but you'll be an authority at the next cocktail party on a matter no one else will know very much about!  

“From ABBA to ZZ Top, all the good band name are taken,” by John Jurgensen, The Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2010.  

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What’s behind the BIZ QUIZ?
The BIZ QUIZ is different from an ordinary “blog”—it’s less about my opinion and more about what I’ve found that I think you might find both interesting and informative.  The BIZ QUIZ is posted every now and then so I can share an especially interesting article I’ve come across or book I’m reading—all easy to “get,” interesting, readily understandable, and mostly about commerce and business in all of its wonderful and splendid variations.  This is done with the explicit purpose of making the affairs of business more relevant and interesting to readers of keithmurrayONBIZ—and, in the process, making my readers like you more conversant and knowledgeable about business matters—which ought to matter to everyone!  

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