Viva La 200,000 seller! Coldplay's new album flew off shop shelves and clocked up huge downloads after being released in the UK earlier today.
The band's eagerly-anticipated fourth album looks certain to be the fastest-selling of the year when figures are announced this weekend. The collection should romp to No.1 on Sunday with sales of around 200,000 — shattering Duffy’s 2008 first-week record of 183,000.
Woolworths reported copies were being snapped up at a rate of 20 every minute. HMV had placed their biggest ever pre-order. And web forums are flooded with posts raving about the album, the band’s most experimental yet. One said: “It’s their best album to date. Ten out of ten.”
Favourable comparisons to fellow stadium-slayers U2 were rife, as was praise for producer Brian Eno. But Coldplay were just glad to have finished the job. 'Prospekt' said: “I feel very relieved that the album is finally released. It’s out of our hands now. It doesn’t belong to us anymore.”
Their sales tally is still a long way behind Oasis’ record-setting Be Here Now, which shifted 695,000 copies in three days back in 1997. But the industry has changed hugely and it's unlikely we’ll see those frantic first-week sales again. But full marks to Coldplay for moving with the times with ideas including letting fans listen to the new album online before its release.
More on this here [thanks mimixxx]
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