A lot of people insist on saying that it's all about the quality of your music, that's only semi true. Sure it's about the quality of your music that brings fans your way, however; how you promote yourself to fans may possibly make them overlook your flaws when it comes to music. If you're an independent artist, know that major labels only come your way based on your fan base. If you have a small fan base, which means small numbers on Soundscan, they are likely to skip you and move onto someone else with more fans
Building a huge fan base is a must if you wish to be signed into any type of "major" deal. No longer are record labels putting millions of dollars up for artists that can't return the money. This means labels are only going for "sure things", anyone who will make back the money they spend out on them.
Look at all of the empty rosters on record labels that you used to look up to, they've started to weed out the weak and keep the strong. Basically this means, if you don't sell enough records, they won't hold your hand thru the process, you'll get the boot! It's very important to reach out to your fans in any and everyway because it's them who determine how far you go. Sure you may have the potential, but you'll still be stuck in the same place if no one else is a believer of it.
Music fans are tired of hearing the same lines when it comes to people trying to sell them CD's and get their money. Look around, money isn't so easy to come by nowadays so don't expect them to give it up easily. You're really going to have to work hard if you want people to spend their time and money on you as oppose to the next artists.
Don't always try to make a sell! This is what I call a "greedy artist"! A "greedy artist" is a lonely artist. Anyone that approaches a fan with the intent to sell the CD every time is doomed for failure. Sure money makes the world go round, however; you have to give to get! By giving away free CD's you'll see how you're money game increases. Not only will fans say they obtained the CD for free, they will be quick to spread the word twice as fast. If the quality of your music is any good, your name is sure to circulate ten times as fast.
Think about it like this, who expects to get something good for free? Nobody! Usually when something is handed out for free, it's not something people will remember or cherish, make your music different!