Coldplay's Free Single Attracts More Than 600,000 Downloads
4/30/2008 By Cam Lindsay

While the music itself might not have lived up to what this writer was hoping for, it appears Coldplay's latest stunt of giving away their first single has worked wonders.

As the music industry continues to blame illegal downloading and turn a blind eye to the power of giving away free music, Coldplay are celebrating a big victory. Yesterday's move in giving away their forthcoming album's first single, "Violet Hill," attracted more than 600,000 downloads, all within a 24-hour period.

The single, which went live as a free download on the band's website, was downloaded 300,000 times in the first 12 hours, more than doubling that throughout the night. As expected, it also slowed down the site from the initial launch.

A spokesperson told the BBC: "Massive demand slowed everything down in the first 40 minutes of the download going live. But that was quickly fixed and Coldplay.com is delivering tracks to fans at full speed."

"Violet Hill" will remain available as a free download until May 6, when it will then be released as a paid-for digital single.
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