British rock group Coldplay will give away a free download of the first single from their new album via their official website, they said on Monday.

"Violet Hill", to be available for a week from Tuesday, is the band's first single from their new album "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends", to be released globally on 12 June.

The website will also give details of two free shows the band will play in London and New York in June.

The gigs are at London's Brixton Academy on 16 June and New York's Madison Square Garden on 23 June.

The album comprises 10 tracks produced by Brian Eno, who created ground-breaking music with David Bowie in the 1970s and has also worked with U2.

Coldplay's move follows the success of fellow British group Radiohead who invited fans to set their own price on its album "In Rainbows" when it was released online last October.

According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all.

AFP