3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Hmm... this was a tough one to dish out points for. "John Smith", while equally a viable solution, feels to me to indicate the "average" person, while "John Doe" is more or less someone who is "unknown" altogether. Even a great pianist can be "unknown" (lack of publicity, opportunities etc); but anyone, regardless of his or her expertise or experience with classical music, that might ever see or hear said pianist perform would surely be able to gather that he is not exactly the "average" pianist. So, this slight nuance is more or less the first thing that swayed my decision. The other is that it was easier to cross reference information on my own about "Joe Bloggs" that was relevant. "John Smith" seems to get buried in cross-fire with history on the explorer - which I anticipated - and is something I'd prefer to avoid. Thanks everyone so much for the helpful contributions."