[kbenson]

> Assuming artists could predict demand and supply (versus spending time creating music)

I assume they pay people that are good at this to do it for them.

> they should only play large venues (which Live Nation controls)

Not all of them. Most, but not all.

> And if they were mainly concerned about money (which some are) then they'd only play the largest cities every year.

For the most part, I think you just described the concert industry as it currently exists. Usually, the only thing indicating whether an artist will book theaters, arenas or stadiums is how likely they are to sell it out. Only the biggest artists can do stadium tours.