Label Business Question(s)

[Meteo Xavier]

Hey-lo, here's a new one for ya.

So I've been wanting to do what some on here have done and try my hand at making audio design products to sell for some extra $ here and there. I was in talks with a rather prominent company to pitch them this Omnisphere set I've been working on in spare time, I was told to get the product up to a point before properly pitching it to them, and then to contact again when it got up to that point. Then the guy I was talking to immediately locked me out of the chat; providing the most baffling display of bad business I've seen in some time (he said I could contact him again at a point and then removed the only avenue I had to contact him with? WTF?) and the impetus to say, "Well, fuck it, I'll just release it on my own then."

And so it is - I wish to make a brand or label for which I can release things on my own accord instead of trying to work with a publisher or company to do it for me. Not a full-on company since I have no plans to hire anyone as an employee and plan to do most everything myself, but still have a name associated with it that isn't my unwieldly real name or the much more unwieldly "12 Followers/Meteo Xavier" name I use for music commissions and albums. I asked this question to a Facebook group some time ago and got some really great answers on it that tell me I need to register as a DBA or LLC and possibly get a business license on top of it. I looked at the LLC but that's going to be more than I need since I'm not trying to build a company here (and it's expensive as hell for liability protection I don't think I run a big risk for in the premade synth instrument industry), so I think the DBA and possibly business license are the way to go there.

Now here's the question: DBA is "doing business as" which registers it as ok that I can do business under this name or word, but the name I'm quite attached to for it is actually an abbreviation of my artist name 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier. I collect money for services that are to be credited as "12 Followers/Meteo Xavier" and I subsequently pay taxes with that income under my real name. I've not been told I need a DBA for art or commissioned services for my real name or 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier, so do I still need a DBA if I use an abbreviation of 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier as a label/brand name?

I guess it might also be helpful to mention I might like to consider creating and releasing other low-sale media items under that abbreviated name as well - like indie games or something in addition.

Just thought it'd be worth asking here before I bother a lawyer acquaintance for it first. Thank you!