  In this paper we study the particle production at high transverse momentum
($p_{\rm T}>8$ GeV/$c$) in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies. The
characterization of the spectra is done using a power-law function and the
resulting power-law exponent ($n$) is studied as a function of $x_{\rm T}$ for
minimum-bias pp collisions at different $\sqrt{s}$. The functional form of $n$
as a function of $x_{\rm T}$ exhibits an approximate universal behavior.
PYTHIA~8.212 reproduces the scaling properties and therefore, it is used to
study the multiplicity-dependent particle production. Going from low to high
multiplicities, the power-law exponent decreases. A similar behavior is also
observed in heavy-ion collisions when one studies the centrality-dependent
particle production. The interpretation of heavy-ion results requires the
quantification of the impact of this correlation (multiplicity and high $p_{\rm
T}$) on jet-quenching observables.
