There are some advantages as well as the many disadvantages to being an unsigned artist. The main one is that the songs produced are the way the writing artist feel they should be, rather than a manager/producer/studio putting in or taking out bits that they either like or don't. What you hear may not be as well produced or polished as it would have been had it come from a major label, but it is from the heart. I know my main weakness is production, and since my last album I have begged or borrowed some better software that may help and am trying to mix and master using better techniques and programs, but at the moment the result is unproven. One of the major disadvantages an unsigned artist has is lack of time, as many of us have the usual mundane jobs that we need to pay the bills, and this, along with family expectations, limits the amount of time that we can spend doing what we love. It would be wonderful to spend 12 hours a day in a studio environment, but the reality is that sometimes we are lucky to grab a couple of hours in a month. But at least people get to hear a song as it was written rather than how a big production team feels it should be played around with before it is released. Stay cool Naraick