'Talk' with Coldplay via Skype

By M&c News Dec 22, 2005, 14:16 GMT

British Coldplay singer Chris Martin during the concert of the band at Madrid´s Sports Palace, Spain, on Tuesday 22 November 2005. EPA/ALBERTO MARTIN

Skype and EMI are partnering to give one Coldplay fan the opportunity to have a private Skype-enabled conversation with band members through a competition hosted on Skype.com.

The competition, launching today, is timed to celebrate Coldplay’s new single, 'Talk,' which was released yesterday.

Any Skype user can enter the contest by leaving a message to Coldplay in the band’s Skype voicemail, which is accessible through Skype.com’s dedicated contest Web site. The band members themselves will listen to the messages to judge which one is best and determine who is the winner. Visitors to the site can also watch a streaming video of the new “Talk” single, directed by Anton Corbijn.

Entrants who call Coldplay’s Skype voicemail using their Skype account will have 20 seconds to tell the band why they like the new single.

All messages must be left in English and include the participant’s Skype user ID for consideration in the competition. The contest will run through February 28th and a winner will be selected on <date TK>. Skype will contact the winner to arrange the call with Coldplay, to take place during March 2006. Skype is free to download at Skype.com.

'Talk' is the third single to be released from Coldplay’s multi-platinum third album ‘X&Y’. It is available as a two-track CD, a DVD,a 7 inch as well as multiple digital download and mobile formats (available to purchase from the Skype competition landing page).

Coldplay, recent recipients of two MTV Europe Awards, are on the last leg of a European tour. They will play tomorrow in Belfast.

Skype allows anyone with an Internet connection to make free Internet voice and video calls.