One of the first questions to ask yourself is... "How strong is this stuff?" Before you spend a lot of money to mass produce your CD and start selling it, I suggest living with it for awhile and getting some good input from someone other than your friends and family. It's possible your music is still in the "demo" stage... and there's nothing wrong with that! Sometimes when I first record a song I'll think it's great. But after I listen to it for a couple months I realize it could use some work... or I end up hating it all together. So, take your time and make sure it's the best it can be.

If you are happy with what you have, another option is shopping your CD to a label. Take the best 3 or 4 songs and put them on a CD. There's not much need to send every song you have. If a label likes what they hear, they will ask you for more. Also, make sure you are proud of what you send them. Don't attach a note apologizing for how it sounds. If it was recorded on your cousin's jam box, should you really be sending it to a label? Maybe you need to wait until you have something that sounds good and put your best foot forward.

If you are fortunate enough to sign with a label, they do have some real advantages. If a bigger label gets behind your music and is willing to spend some cash, they can do great things for your career. I've been signed to 3 different labels over the years... a major (Geffen)... an indie (Metal Blade)... and a small indie (SAR). Geffen had the power and they got my band on the radio and MTV, and put us on Dream Theater and King's X tours. That was great! However, when I was signed to SAR a couple years ago, they went bankrupt.  That was NOT great! There are no guarantees in the music biz. Despite what people think, just because you get signed to a label it doesn't mean you are suddenly a rich rock star.