You're right, a lot of times studio costs come out of the artist's advance. And there are plenty of local studios that musicians can pay to record in. But stil

You're right, a lot of times studio costs come out of the artist's advance. And there are plenty of local studios that musicians can pay to record in. But still, one of the big things (in my mind) labels have going for them is state of the art record studios and top-notch producers. Maybe in the future you could consider fronting money for studio time and having a list of freelance producers? Most of the local bands I know (wrongly) feel like they could manage promotion themselves through Facebook and email. But they get really excited at the opportunity to record.