Recording labels have generally been ruthless in dropping artists that haven’t sold as well as expected. Now the tables are being turned. “These days, with the entire music biz in flux, a growing number of major-label artists, from Pearl Jam to Natalie Merchant to Jimmy Buffett, are biting the hand that doesn’t feed them enough. They’re finding that they can start their own record labels and do just fine outside the big-label structure, that going independent and using technology to their advantage can pay off both financially and creatively.”