THE soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has promised to revolutionise the British music industry by selling albums online for as little as £6.40.

The brand yesterday announced a bid to become the dominant player in the music download market. Coca-Cola’s move is a challenge to Apple’s iTunes music store, which has sold 30 million tracks at 99c (54p) each to American fans. Apple is expected to announce a version for European customers next week.

The music industry has blamed illegal file-sharing for a global sales slump and the British Phonographic Industry this week gave warning that people could face prosecution for substantial downloading.

Coca-Cola said that it had developed a “user friendly” online store, which will open for business on Monday. More than 250,000 tracks will be available to British fans through the Mycokemusic.com site. Single tracks range from 80p to 99p and albums will be available from £6.40.

Major record companies have agreed to license tracks from 8,500 leading artists, including Robbie Williams, the Darkness and Madonna for sale through the site.

Fans will be lured by exclusive and pre-release tracks from artists including George Michael, the Stereophonics and Lemar. The new single by a reformed Tears For Fears will be available exclusively.

Children will not be able to buy music from Coca-Cola without their parents’ permission, as all purchasers must be registered with a credit card and be aged over 18.

The online store follows a deal in which Coca-Cola became the official sponsor of the British charts. The BBC was forced to cancel an agreement to recognise the sponsorship after political pressure. A new digital download chart to be introduced in the spring will also be Coca-Cola branded.

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