sw5110 wrote:

I thought that WAS recorded there album before they were signed, which would give them more freedom for WLAS than is normal.

Isn't the RIAA made up of labels?

it doesn't matter if they fronted the money for the recording themselves, once they sign a contract with a major label for that label to release the album, they are no longer the sole owners of that album.

and yes, the riaa consists of hundreds of record labels. http://www.riaa.com/about/members/