[breakfastduck]

Very US centric and very bias towards established acts with a large following.

That is not the cycle for every band. I'm sure there are plenty of bands willing to travel a few hours for a one off gig, especially in smaller countries. Bands where they may be fairly popular online but haven't done any tours as yet.

[bildung]

I perfectly fits my experience in Germany, so probably not US- but established-band centric (as in: they make money off spotify, though not necessarily enough to live off of it).

Bookings almost exclusively go through the band's agency, 6 to 12 months in advance. Tour logistics are a major part of costs on the band's side. Smaller bands without an agency usually also only have a very small local following, meaning not enough guests to pay the people at the venue, meaning the mostly are not booked by the venue, outside of labor-of-love events of some employees at the venue.