Guided by the initiatives started by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, the British band Coldplay decided to offer fans their first single for free.

 “From Tuesday, 12:15 pm UK time for one week only you can come here to download a free copy of a new song called Violet Hill,” announced the band on their website. After the free download period, fans will have to pay for the song.

Besides the single give-out, two massive free concerts were also announced. The first will take place at the Brixton Academy in London on June 16 and the second at Madison Square Garden on June 23.

Their new album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends is expected for release in June and anticipations are very high. The follow-up to 2005’s X&Y will be the band’s forth studio album.

This particular promotional strategy was embraced by many other artists. Last year, in June, Prince offered copies of his album Planet Earth, using the Mail On Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom. The 2.8 million papers sold indicated a large success for both the newspaper and also Prince.

Last October, Radiohead decided to let fans buy their new album, In Rainbows, online at whatever price they considered appropriate. At the time, opinions were about 50-50% on whether the initiative will help the industry or sink it even lower.

Another artist who did a similar promotional stunt is rapper Saul Williams, who besides the free download offered a higher quality version for a $5 donation.

Nine Inch Nails and its front man Trent Reznor also gave away 9 of their tracks through the internet. The lead singer caused a large media scandal after a concert last September. After one of the songs he started talking to the crowd about the ridiculous CD prices and invited everyone to stop buying records, to download their favorite music and spread it everywhere.