This is a bit of a random question, but I was just researching some old jazz artists, and they were all called by their supposed names. Of course there are some exceptions (Johnny Hammond, etc), but it got me thinking, all the blues artists that I listen to from the 40's 50's and 60's have normal names, like "James Wilson" (I just made that one up), and it seems like the further back you go, you find more artists who sold records under their own common name. This made me think, does anyone know when the concept of the "Artist Name" (Aerosmith, Gang Starr, etc) came up, or who was the pioneer. I mean, I suppose until the first person who did it, it would've sounded insane to publish a record under the name "Mighty Max". Lol. So does anyone know the origin of the artist name?