What you say isn't entirely wrong. For Ghost to get a $750,000 advance from Universal, I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that Tom Whalley bought the band's publishing rights. If UMG can get a radio hit out of Ghost, or even some mid level licensing success like Whalley achieved with Mastodon, they will make many x more than that initial advance.
What this means, is that if the label has its hands in the band's pockets that deep, it might be interested in the minutia of its tour schedule. But, in terms of what exact cities it plays? I doubt it. Soundscan numbers are not state-by-state and only reflect national sales on the whole. If the record doesn't do well in the US, the justification for a tour is harder, and if it does really well, the justification goes up - but it's not necessarily an issue of market to market. Booking a tour is frankly, and I don't care if you're a diy kid or William Morris, hard as fuck. You have to plot out an itinerary that works, find promoters willing to buy the package for the price the bands require, re-route the tour for any dates that may fall though due to lack of interest or everything being booked up already, AND make sure that there are as few days off as possible to ensure the bands aren't losing money.
