Coldplay have bowed to the realities of a music business afflicted by file-sharing by announcing that their new single will be given away tomorrow as a free download.

Violet Hill, the first single from the 30 million-selling band’s new album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, will be made available on the band’s website from 12:15pm.

Continuing the “music for free” theme, the group also announced concerts at Brixton Academy, South London, and Madison Square Garden, New York, for which tickets will be given away to fans through the band's website.

The album is a vital release for EMI, which has lost acts including Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney amid uncertainty after a takeover by Terra Firma, the venture capital firm run by Guy Hands.

Coldplay’s gesture is not as radical as Radiohead’s “honesty box” policy of allowing fans to choose how much they wanted to pay to download their recent album, In Rainbows.

Coldplay, led by Chris Martin, have brought forward the British release date of their fourth album to June 12, in part to reduce the threat of piracy presented by a staggered international release.

Even the biggest stars have been forced to adapt to an environment where CD sales are declining by 10 per cent a year.

Madonna signed deals with Vodafone and Samsung to let fans hear her new album, Hard Candy, before its official release today. Vodafone customers can stream an exclusive Madonna performance live from New York on Wednesday.

Coldplay, who formed at University College London, are also seeking to shake their image as middlebrow balladeers and attract a fresh audience of younger web-savvy music lovers.

They will give away a free single through the indie music paper NME and their new album, produced by Brian Eno, is said to be their most experimental yet. However, some critics believe that the album has the worst possible title for a major release, which could damage its commercial prospects.

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