diff --git a/larigira/audiogen_mostrecent.py b/larigira/audiogen_mostrecent.py
index 0fe0381..e35dc75 100644
--- a/larigira/audiogen_mostrecent.py
+++ b/larigira/audiogen_mostrecent.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from tempfile import mkstemp
 
 from pytimeparse.timeparse import timeparse
 
-from larigira.fsutils import scan_dir
+from larigira.fsutils import scan_dir, shortname
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def generate(spec):
 
     for path in picked:
         tmp = mkstemp(suffix=os.path.splitext(path)[-1],
-                      prefix='audiogen-randomdir-')
+                      prefix='randomdir-%s-' % shortname(path))
         os.close(tmp[0])
         shutil.copy(path, tmp[1])
         log.info("copying %s -> %s", path, os.path.basename(tmp[1]))
diff --git a/larigira/audiogen_randomdir.py b/larigira/audiogen_randomdir.py
index 1c79365..2453210 100644
--- a/larigira/audiogen_randomdir.py
+++ b/larigira/audiogen_randomdir.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import shutil
 import random
 from tempfile import mkstemp
 
-from larigira.fsutils import scan_dir
+from larigira.fsutils import scan_dir, shortname
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def generate(spec):
 
     for path in picked:
         tmp = mkstemp(suffix=os.path.splitext(path)[-1],
-                      prefix='randomdir-')
+                      prefix='randomdir-%s-' % shortname(path))
         os.close(tmp[0])
         shutil.copy(path, tmp[1])
         log.info("copying %s -> %s", path, os.path.basename(tmp[1]))
diff --git a/larigira/audiogen_static.py b/larigira/audiogen_static.py
index 8bf88c1..8d801ff 100644
--- a/larigira/audiogen_static.py
+++ b/larigira/audiogen_static.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import os
 import logging
 import shutil
 from tempfile import mkstemp
+
+from larigira.fsutils import shortname
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ def generate(spec):
             log.warning("Can't find requested path: %s", path)
             continue
         tmp = mkstemp(suffix=os.path.splitext(path)[-1],
-                      prefix='audiogen-static-')
+                      prefix='static-%s-' % shortname(path))
         os.close(tmp[0])
         log.info("copying %s -> %s", path, os.path.basename(tmp[1]))
         shutil.copy(path, tmp[1])
diff --git a/larigira/fsutils.py b/larigira/fsutils.py
index 0b38c6f..6501e21 100644
--- a/larigira/fsutils.py
+++ b/larigira/fsutils.py
@@ -22,3 +22,10 @@ def scan_dir_audio(dirname, extensions=('mp3', 'oga', 'wav', 'ogg')):
         for fname in filenames:
             if multi_fnmatch(fname, extensions):
                 yield os.path.join(root, fname)
+
+
+def shortname(path):
+    name = os.path.basename(path)  # filename
+    name = name.rsplit('.', 1)[0]   # no extension
+    name = ''.join(c for c in name if c.isalnum())  # no strange chars
+    return name
diff --git a/larigira/tests/test_fsutils.py b/larigira/tests/test_fsutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a5d8bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/larigira/tests/test_fsutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from larigira.fsutils import shortname
+
+
+def test_shortname_self():
+    '''sometimes, shortname is just filename without extension'''
+    assert shortname('/tmp/asd/foo.bar') == 'foo'
+
+
+def test_shortname_has_numbers():
+    '''shortname will preserve numbers'''
+    assert shortname('/tmp/asd/foo1.bar') == 'foo1'
+
+
+def test_shortname_has_no_hyphen():
+    '''shortname will not preserve hyphens'''
+    assert shortname('/tmp/asd/foo-1.bar') == 'foo1'