Do you always put a comma before you use quotation marks, or do you only use a comma before dialogue or a quote?

For example:

“I know, but just give this CD a chance,” my mom said as she inserted the new CD into the CD player. “It was made by a Christian band called ‘pureNRG.’ You’ll probably like their music.”

Does there ned to be a comma before "pureNRG?" In fact, do I even need to put quotation marks around pureNRG? I didn't use quotation marks any of the other times I wrote the name, but this is the first time the name is used in my composition.

No comma is needed before 'pureNRG' and no, you don't need any quotation marks around that. It's a band's name ... not a title of a story or book or artwork.

The general rule is to use a comma before quotation marks when introducing dialogue or a quote. In your example, since you are attributing the dialogue to your mom and then inserting a quote within her dialogue, you would use a comma before the opening quotation mark. However, since "pureNRG" is a proper noun, it doesn't necessarily require quotation marks.

If you want to emphasize the name or highlight its uniqueness, you can use quotation marks the first time it appears to make it stand out. After that, you can simply use it as a proper noun without quotation marks. Therefore, in your composition, you could write:

“I know, but just give this CD a chance,” my mom said as she inserted the new CD into the CD player. It was made by a Christian band called pureNRG. You’ll probably like their music.

Remember, the use of quotation marks around "pureNRG" is optional but can be useful in clarifying the name's significance or unfamiliarity to the reader.