Coldplay jumps on free music bandwagon

by Ben Bold, Brand Republic 28-Apr-08, 15:30

LONDON - Coldplay will become the latest band to release music as a free download when they launch their latest single via Coldplay.com.

From 12.15pm on April 29 for a week, fans will be able to download 'Violet Hill', from Coldplay's forthcoming album 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends', free of charge.

The band's website will also publish details of two free shows that they will play in London (at Brixton Academy on June 16) and New York (at Madison Square Gardens on June 23).

The single 'Violet Hill' has been scheduled for a normal digital release on May 6.

Coldplay is following similar moves from other bands who are breaking from the traditional record label model when it comes to releasing music.

Most famously last October, Radiohead let punters pay as little or as much as they wanted for the release of studio album 'In Rainbows'.

Just days before the Radiohead news broke, The Charlatans announced that they were to give away their forthcoming album 'You Cross My Path' as a free download in a deal with Xfm. Earlier in the year Prince sparked a major row with retailer HMV when he gave away his latest album 'Planet Earth' via The Mail on Sunday.