Despite Noel Gallagher’s determined declaration last year that Oasis would never give away an album à la Radiohead, the band are about to embrace the growing free music culture by allowing fans to listen to their new album on MySpace.

Stopping short of giving away Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis have announced they will post their much-anticipated seventh studio album on social networking website MySpace ahead of its release date next Monday.

The album will be posted in its entirety at midday tomorrow and will remain on the site, allowing fans to listen for free, for the rest of the week.

Frontman Gallagher had previously balked at the decline of music sales and rise of reputable bands, including Coldplay, giving away tracks online.

After Radiohead’s history-making decision to make the album In Rainbows available via an ‘honesty box system’ last year, Gallagher publicly declared: "I didn't spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America and the most expensive graphic designer in London, to then give it away. F*** that."

But he conceded that it might have been a clever thinking by Radiohead. “To be honest, to me it looked like marketing – a great way of getting a load of marketing for free really. But good for them. That's what they do, they're rebels and outsiders.”

Oasis, themselves often considered rebels, need little publicity, having rarely strayed from the news over the past month since Gallagher was attacked on stage during a performance in Canada.

Touring to promote Dig Out Your Soul, the 41-year-old was attacked on September 8 while performing at the V Festival in Toronto. A man rushed the stage and shoved Gallagher into his monitor speakers, leaving the singer in need of hospital treatment.

The band has since cancelled a series of gigs but become a constant media presence after a man was charged with assault and Gallagher was diagnosed with broken and dislodged ribs.

Dig Out Your Soul is expected to top the music charts after the band’s previous six albums all made it to No. 1.

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