sc, producing and promoting your own CD (or concert) and paying to let someone decide if they want you to sing or not are two entirely different things. I turned down plenty of "opportunities" back in the Sixties, and I did okay. I sang almost every weekend -- for pay. Coffeehouses and college concerts mostly (I made a living at it). I was offered numerous "opportunities" of the "grease my palm and I'll make you a national star" sort and not one of them ever led anyone anywhere.

Reputable producers don't ask you to pay them, they pay you. That's kinda basic.

Don Firth