I was reading in Hypebot about clubs "presaling" tickets to an act, to the act. In effect foprcing musicians to pay for under delivery of anticipated audience. Say It is a 200 SRO house, the band is forced to guarantee 40 tickets sold. If they don't make it, the difference comes out of the bands evening take.
But that's not the only way opening bands get shafted. A friend of mine works for an indie band (you'd know them if I told you who) and she tells me that when the band sets out on a tour, the opening bands have to kick in money to the headliners. Now, if the headliners are providing transportation, accomodation, etc., I can kinda see it but given the circumstances… I am not sure what is going.
The bottom line remains the same: it is getting more and more difficult to make a living and for a band starting out, they are trying to make bucks touring and it is essentially impossible. You might have read the Moms tour diary here, and that's half the problem but the other half is that a regional band are regional by definition. It might be tough for them to fufill obligations in their own market, out of the market it is impossible.
There are so many bands who have every reason on earth to hit it big and they don't because there are so many obstacles in the way. If you are playing to play and nobody will pay for your music, how long can you hold on?