Indepence is the key.

When it comes to the music industry, many artists have a middle man, are connected to a company, and have to please their bosses. Those who are are able to cut out the middle man are more likely to sing what they want to sing, and are able to get more "true fans."

In this way it is very similar to mainstream news outlets and independent news outlets. Mainstream news outlets have to please the big bosses of their corporation, while independent media outlets don't have to answer to anyone but themselves and their readers.

Radiohead has detached themselves from the big record label and gone made in the independent media world.

By becoming independent, they were allowed to record at their leisure and did not have pressure from someone telling them what to do and when, allowing them to put more time into their music, creating better quality. This makes it more true to the views a values of the band itself. 

When their album "In Rainbows" came out, they sold copies without setting a fixed price. They allowed people to pay as little or as much as they wanted for the album.

By not setting a fixed price for their album, it made more people want to buy it, therefore giving it more attention. Some people pre-ordered the deluxe package for $80 and some people paid as little as 90 cents. They allowed people to pay what they thought was fair price.

They also allow people to record live bootlegs at concerts, getting people interested before the album was even released. This allowed them to "add more moving parts to make them bleaker and jumpier."

By doing this, and ridding themselves of a middle man, they have put themselves in a great position to market themselves online and acquire even more loyalty and true fans. By marketing itself online, they can get more fans in a shorter period of time.

Radiohead, however, had the advantage of already having a set of followers from when they were a major-label band. This most likely made it easier for them to expand and become independent. By already having a set of true fans, they were able to count on those fans to spread the word and to buy that $80 package when their album came out.

By getting rid of the middle man, it allowed to the break out of their shell, and in the end will allow them to make more money. They won't have to pay the middle man and most of the profits will go directly to them. Besides the money aspect of this, it allows them to interact more directly with their fans and the audience, making the relationship more personal, and creating more of a following.

Although many bands may not be able to just get their big start on the internet, Radiohead is a good example of how going independent can be beneficial.