How do you have a hit without releasing a single?
Coldplay's stirring anthem Viva La Vida is number one on both sides of the Atlantic, making them the first British group to achieve this feat since the Spice Girls in 1997. This would be remarkable enough in itself, but, in a sign that the music business is undergoing top-to-tail transformation, they have done it by accident. Coldplay's current single is officially Violet Hill, which, to complicate matters further, they gave away free. It was downloaded more than two million times (enough to have outsold the combined top 40 in the US and UK).
Meanwhile, the title track of their album, Viva La Vida, was made available through iTunes as a (non-chart eligible) taster, with a 30-second video advert. When the album was officially released last week, so many people downloaded that track that it became Coldplay's biggest ever hit.
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