I read a blog about http://www.dittomusic.com who were the first distributor to get an unsigned artist into the UK top 40.
The guy blogging went on and on about them being a record label and not a distributor but the main point is, the band ( Koopa ) held ALL of the rights to their songs, they used Ditto for their back office to make sure they were chart eligible.

I think either way, its an exciting time and there isnt any point argueing about terms