For one thing, there are still five. Sony/BMG ain't close to happening yet, the entire proposal is about to be shot down by the EU. It's five. Interscope is, no argument, the most successful of all of Universal's labels, and Universal is the most powerful of all of the majors. Interscope still mines talent and manages A&R and artist aspects as a label, but much of their marketing and distribution is handled by UMVD proper, the same case as any other label that's part of one of the majors, including Reprise or WBR and their greater link to WEA. They're exactly the same animal.
I place the blame for the relative failure of the album on Warners for several reasons- they spent too much money unwisely in trying to make commercial what was an decidedly uncommercial record, they chose traditional outlets for exposure and didn't allow the album to have the slow burn that adult albums today need for a greater rate of success, and they managed to miss connecting the album as a CRITICAL must-have, which would've helped all of the new generation of hipsters who have discovered Tusk discover this record in turn. They missed the boat in marketing and catching the new adult audience that's emerged with successes like Norah Jones (gag for name-dropping that record)... and their attempts at getting radio behind the record were nearly pitiful at best.
Interscope would've been a good choice for them, because Interscope has a great track record with breaking artists and albums intelligently, properly marketing them not only to their core audience, but leading new buyers to it, which Warners failed miserably with. Their recent success with the Loretta Lynn/Jack White album is another example that shows me that Interscope actually GETS it, which WMG frankly doesn't, and now with Lyor Cohen helming the company, will CONTINUE to not get it.
When we're talking about independents, I think we're talking more a group like Sanctuary, which has the manpower and ability to helm a record like Fleetwood Mac's. Their success with Warren Zevon and MANY others is stunning, and their STILL part of the major label groups in terms of distribution, with BMG. They'd make more money going relatively small-time, keeping their costs down, and not having a huge blown up project that has no chance of meeting its P&Ls.
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