Trinity Mirror is claiming that the deal to give away new Prince album 20Ten exclusively with the Daily Mirror and Daily Record boosted each title’s sales by 334,000 and 45,000 respectively, compared with the previous Saturday.
From dawn, as 2.5 million copies of the Daily Mirror hit newstands, newsagents had people queueing for their copy, with many buying three or four to give to friends and family.
And international demand for the album sent internet auction sites Amazon and eBay into meltdown, as entrepreneurial readers flogged their free album online.
Even megastar Sir Elton John made sure he got his album early, ordering five copies to be couriered from Daily Mirror HQ to his home.
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