“Speed of Sound”
from the album X&Y
2005
[iTunes]
Coldplay is back with their third album X&Y on June 7. The first single “Speed of Sound” is already becoming a huge hit, as it’s currently the No. 1 download on all fifteen of the iTunes Music Stores — Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Before that, though, it was a hit ringtone.
The band first debuted the lead single not on the radio but as a Cingular ringtone. A thirty-second sample was made available through Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless’ ring tone store. This was nearly a week before the song’s radio debut and nearly two months before the album’s Capitol Records release.
The ringtone debut may signal a major step for the music industry, which previously relied almost exclusively on radio and television. The step also lends credibility to the rapidly expanding ringtone market. This was the first installment of a Cingular service called Cingular Sounds, which allows subscribers a first listen to songs before they hit radio.
 Coldplay |