THE rock group Coldplay have secured an international first for British music after their new single became the world’s fastest-selling download.

Speed of Sound is available only in digital form, but already it has broken chart records held by the Beatles. The song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at No 8, the first British group to debut inside the Top Ten since the Beatles in 1968.

Speed of Sound shot to No 1 on its day of release in all 15 worldwide Apple iTunes stores, achieving almost 100,000 sales last week.

The song is the first preview of the quartet’s hotly anticipated album X&Y, which is tipped to sell ten million copies.

However, the song is barred from tomorrow’s British singles chart. Although downloads now count in the Top 40, a song is ineligible if no physical version is available in stores.

The rule is designed to prevent established retailers from being frozen out of the singles market. Speed of Sound is not released as a British CD until May 23, when its combined sales will count.

Coldplay tonight will seal their status as the “new U2” when they headline the Coachella Valley Festival in the California desert, playing to 80,000 fans. The bill is dominated by British artists, including Keane, Snow Patrol, Razorlight, Jamie Cullum and even the million-selling Radio 2 favourite Katie Melua.

Coldplay have invited Franz Ferdinand to join them on a “best of British” summer tour of American arenas.

While Coldplay are happy to enjoy the benefits of paid downloads, EMI, their record company, is paranoid about the album leaking on to the internet before its June release.

Reviewers may preview X&Y only via an iPod locked in a glass case and surrounded by security guards. EMI Group shares fell 16 per cent in February after it blamed delays in releasing the Coldplay and Gorillaz albums for lower-than-expected profits.

Paul Richards, an analyst with Numis Securities, said: “This is the high-stakes album of the year for EMI. All eyes will be on the performance of X&Y.”

The pressure is intense on Chris Martin, the perfectionist Coldplay singer, whose marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow has placed his life under even greater scrutiny.

He called the making of the band’s third album “one of the most difficult experiences of my life” and even suggested that it may be Coldplay’s last.

EMI has planned a 12-month strategy for the band, which will see them playing to 150,000 British fans this summer, plus tours of Asia, Australasia, Latin America and a return to the US next year.

Coldplay have some way to go before they can truly equal the Beatles. When Lady Madonna reached No 4 in the Billboard chart in 1968, it sold one million vinyl singles. During the first week of April 1964, the Beatles held the top five positions on the Billboard singles chart and the Lennon/McCartney team were responsible for 32 No 1 singles.

Speed of Sound needed just 44,000 downloads to enter the US Top Ten, which is combined from downloads and radio airplay. Record companies have largely abandoned CD singles in the US.

• Tony Christie, the resurgent crooner, will join Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters and Kaiser Chiefs at this summer’s V Festival. Christie, 62, has been added to the Chelmsford and Staffordshire rock festival after the million-selling reissue of (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.

  COLD FACTS

• David Martin, the singer’s uncle, is the Conservative candidate for Bristol West

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