There were different executives getting bonuses from the institutional device sales than there were for the consumer radios and the factories that made the vacuum tubes.
Along with the media (78 rpm records) that was distributed by their record company whether it was recorded by their own artists in their own studios or not, with the tubes themselves you got to "own" them physically when you bought replacements. But like the 78s and the original tubes in the radios, they were only licensed for personal use.
For jukebox use, office music, or if you just wanted to play a retail radio, or records on your own in a place like a restaurant, there was a whole 'nother layer of licensing to be satisfied for both the media and the tubes it was playing through.
Does per-seat licensing ring a bell? Nothing new about that.