Take a look at Arctic Monkeys. They started out just passing a demo along. No major label. You need to be in line with what people want to hear, and have the talent to produce whatever that is on a professional level, then examine a big record labels business model and adapt it to to your own cause.

Advertising is certainly important, but even as far as indie labels go, they need to make deals with the major labels as far as distribution goes. CDs may or may not be on their way out, but it's still the case that if your basement label can't get your music in the stores, or send it anywhere outside of the local area, then all you've got is a few sites that are already being flooded with countless bands also vying for attention, and little way to compete for the listeners' attention besides word of mouth. And I imagine with so many groups on the same sites, word of mouth for non-established acts is even harder to come by than it was before the internet.

You've got a good grasp on it. Hard out there for a pimp.

The industry is a very intertwined and undefined place to try to succeed (DISCLAIMER, I have not by my standards "succeeded" yet in the industry, I just think I've spent enough hours obsessing to understand a little bit). In a nutshell, no, you don't need a label to succeed in the industry PER SAY. There are tons of artists out now, especially in EDM if you're into that, who got their start by marketing themselves and being smart about how they present their art. You can break it down into a few things. When you're an entertainer, people value your image, and that depends on a lot of things but for the most part that should be determined by the music you want to make, because if you're making music you should have a reason. Otherwise, you're like millions of people who think it's just something to do. It's not, and being a musician is not an easy thing to do by any standards. It takes a lot of people telling you you're not good enough and ignoring them, and a lot of gigs that didn't get you anywhere. Also, we have to come to terms that overnight success is pretty much a myth. Yes it happens, but only when the demographic that's being won over is the one that will literally forget about you in a few months or a few years.

Labels are an access point. They are a way in. Because you don't have someone who backs you, and says "this person is great!" you need them to be that, and they need you because you really are great. Labels are still essential to the business, and to get signed to one you need more than just good music. You need to prove you are willing to work and to some degree you need to find a way to make that connection. Once you make a connection, either with your fanbase or with a label or with somebody who values what you do, you have an access point to what we ultimately desire as people who love to entertain and who have a reason for doing it; building more and more connections. I am still on that journey too, so I hope you can take some of this with you! I'm a music production major at a conservatory, and just want to spread the love! To synopsize: if this is really what you want and if it's worth a ton (A TONNN) of sacrifice, join the rest of us and be humble, take the chances you get and always stay positive.

I like to believe that raw talent rises from the rest. Like others have said, it depends on how you define success and such forth. I know that, for my music, I'll be happy simply if people are listening to it, even if I don't make any money from it. You definitely don't need a label for that.

Again. Depends. After a certain level of notoriety, your fans kind of become unreliable as judges of your music. In person they'll tell you how awesome you are and be too nervous to really give honest criticism. On the net you'll often get the people who rant and rave about how great you are, juxtaposed with the people who rant and rave about how your new album is a sellout. And even the honest ones don't really know you, so they can't really get where you're coming from in as personal a way as you might want.

If you crave success, or just even just relevance, then yeah, you're gonna need a label, but if all you want to do is play music and get meaningful feedback, critically or just emotionally, from people who are relevant to your own world, then you could probably just stick to playing dingy, local coffee shops or basement venues where only local artists get billed. Or just sing at your church, or play guitar for your friends at parties.

A label is still needed because although there is the internet for social media the majority of Artist don not know the Music Business and what is required to Become a Brand. So although you have social media a label is still needed to get to that next level. But make sure it's a label that has your best interest at heart as an artist and make sure they know what they are doing in order to advance your career.