How does one know there music is ready to be sent to record labels?

[Nihilis]

Does it really matter? Is this sort of thing just a chance type situation? I've been sitting on this finished album of mine and I'm not sure if you should attempt to make something better or what not. I also feel that this album is to wonky and out there. I have an overall them for the album, but I don't really stick with one genre? Has anyone here have connections with a label? I'm not asking for help into your label, I'm asking for guidance into finding a label that's going to share my music in a way I can't do alone. Can anyone help? But yeah. The question in bold is the most important question to me that i asked.

[Gavvo]

It's more down to if you yourself think it's ready. Sending it to the right label is a task an all. A lot of labels these days will take literally anything on board as it costs near to nothing to market and distribute it digitally just to earn themselves a few £££. The best thing to do when you've found a few choice labels is to request feedback when you've sent it, regardless if they're going to sign the album or not.

[robogone]

Do you have an audience for it? Has it been tried and tested in live performance, or clubs? Do you have a huge number of Soundcloud followers?

I'm assuming that you're writing and thinking of sending it speculatively to record companies? If that's the case, you have to be aware that no matter how good it is, you only have a very tiny chance of anyone even listening to it.

Getting a following first, and then use that as a start point to getting signed. Or better still, get an agent to do it for you as they will already have the contacts in the business and will want to take you on as you're a tried and tested product.

[pljones]

I'd add to what robojam is saying. If I were a record label wanting to invest my money in new talent, I'd be looking at people capable of putting their material together and getting it to their fans as that's not the hard part of the job. You've got a Bandcamp site right? So you know how well your music sells? No?

Why is a label going to want to listen to you if you've no idea if you're any good?

And be clear on what you want from a label. Will it get you more fans? Will your fans value your music more? What? If it's just distribution, then you really can do a lot of that alone, so it does need to be more. If you're using Bandcamp then you'll be able to identify your fans, for example, and see what other music they're interested in - really useful knowledge as it'll give you self-insight. And helps you position yourself in the market -- you can sell yourself directly to online sites that will sell you into those same markets. (I buy most of my music now because it's been fed to me from progstreaming, for example -- if you can find similar places that your fans will be listening to, you'll be onto something many labels wouldn't get you.)

[kelldammit]

It'd probably be best to view a label as a step to the next level of success, rather than the means to achieving success to start with.
The standard answer would be that you'd know because labels were already coming after you. If your music is already selling, and you have a really good rep for live gigs, they'd know that you can generate sales, because you already are. It costs them money to release/push, etc, and they're not too likely to invest if they can not realistically expect it to pay off. Soundcloud and bandcamp followings are nice, but if people are only listening for free versus buying, it probably won't count for as much as one would hope.

However, depending on the sort of music you do, you might find an outlet via a small niche label. You'd probably need to do an honest comparison of what you're doing versus what they're releasing. If you're feeling pretty comfortable with the fit in terms of musical and sonic quality, the next step would be to inquire as to whether they'd accept unsolicited submissions (many labels do not), and go from there.

Best of luck!