One Direction Tour Tickets Price Slashed: Is This The Beginning Of The End?
One Direction fans will be shocked by news that, just days before the band start their latest world tour in Australia, ticket prices have been slashed by half.
One Direction’s “On the Road Again” tour kicks off in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, but reports indicate that ticket sales have not been as expected. Aussie news outlets are claiming that industry rumors had been circulating that the boy band struggled to fill stadiums in Australia, with many fans seemingly growing up or moving on to more credible acts like Ed Sheeran and The 1975.
One Direction were formed on Simon Cowell’s X-Factor in 2010 after the boys had been rejected as solo performers. They went on to claim the runners-up spot on the show and were later signed by Cowell’s SyCo company. They are under contract to Cowell until the end of this year. Last year’s One Direction tour was the most successful of the year, with an estimated 3.5 million people seeing the show. It reportedly made the band a profit of over $250 million.
The news that ticket prices in Australia have been slashed will throw up questions about the bands potential longevity. Budget ticket site lasttix.com.au has put half-price tickets for shows in Sydney and Brisbane on sale, with some tickets now selling for as little as $50. This will be a major concern, given that tickets have been on sale for a full year.
Paul Cashmere of music website Noise 11 said the last minute cheap tickets were an unfortunate symptom of the short lifecycle of a boy band.
“A One Direction garage sale is hardly surprising considering the origins of the band, A manufactured boy band targeting young teens will work as a fashion statement at the time but like all teenage fashions the kids quickly grow out of the old and onto the new.
“One Direction have been around for nearly five years but unlike an old shirt you can’t pass down a boy band to a younger kid. When you put a band like this on sale a year out you have to cross your fingers they will still be relevant to their original audience by the time the tour starts.”
One Direction’s previous tour only finished last October, and this is the third major tour in three years. This may suggest that Simon Cowell, never the sentimental sort, recognized One Direction’s likely lifespan and has been making hay whilst the sun shines.
There have been numerous reports in recent months about One Direction members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan getting involved in other projects. It may well be the case that the young stars are already preparing for life after One Direction.
What do Inquisitr readers and One Direction fans think? Is it time for One Direction to go their separate ways?
[Image via WalesOnline]
