Hello. I am hoping to get a basic step by step process figured out for establishing artist status and protecting my music. This would be a solo act not a band situation. Questions I have are:

Should I come up with a band name as a solo act or just go by my name?
Can I trademark my personal name or only a stage/band name?
Can I Copyright rough versions of songs or should I wait until final mix and do it all at once.
(Should I Copyright/trademark directly through uspto or through a third party) and should I do all of that before uploading music/distribution?

What streaming/distribution platform is best for everything if I want to do covers, streaming, physical CD's/records, sync license, mechanical license? What is the process to obtain ID codes for songs and for trying to place music out there in film, etc.? How to legally cover to put on YouTube/ socials. I am leaning towards landr.

How do I protect my work if I send it to someone to master prior to copyrighting?

What happens if I put my music out there and then learn that a song might sound like someone else's and I wasn't aware at the time of writing my music?

How do I do covers legally?

If a song, for example, a holiday song is in the public domain, can I cover it, copyright my own version, etc.?

Do I need to do ascap/bmi and how? Should I make up my own label to affiliate with one of these?

If I generate an AI pic from a free art generator, can I use that for cover art?

What I am hoping to do is obtain a simple step by step guide with specific instructions/ links. A cliff notes sort of situation. How to establish all of these things from ground zero. From the finalized songs in the basement to fully out there legally speaking. I have watched endless videos on these processes, but I am old school and just need the nuts and bolts in simplest form. Thanks for any info.