Major catalog artists consolidated at Universal while Radiohead chose self-release

Evidence

Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and Robbie Williams ended up at Universal Music Group, while Radiohead self-released their next album in 2007 with an online “pay what you want” scheme that was very successful, then signed with the independent label XL Recordings. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 677

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Catalog consolidation at UMG directly supports tracing how ownership concentration (relevant to infrastructure and grafting themes) reshapes who controls musical back catalogues.
• QUESTION: Does Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want model count as an alternative ownership structure producing different distribution form — worth checking whether deWaard argues this as causation.