Prince promotion success for Daily Mirror and Daily Record

Pop superstar Prince boosted the sales of the Daily Mirror and Daily Record by 334,000 and 45,000 respectively when his eagerly-awaited new album 20TEN was given away free with the titles on Saturday.

This was a combined weekly aggregate week-on-week increase sale of 379,000 for the two titles. 

It was the first time that a new album by a major recording artist has been released and distributed exclusively in national daily newspapers in the UK and was one of the most successful marketing promotions for the Daily Mirror and Scotland's Daily Record in recent years.

Prince's 10 track CD 20TEN was given away free to readers in the Mirror and Record after a week long promotional campaign - spearheaded by agenda-setting editorial properties which were heavily blurbed on the front pages of both papers.  

In his first British interview for more than ten years, the reclusive singer gave the Mirror's Associate Editor Peter Willis a tour of his Paisley Park studios, claimed that the "internet is completely over" and defended his decision to boycott websites including iTunes and YouTube.  His controversial comments sparked debate around the world  - including on websites such as CNN and ABC  - and the interview has become one of the most read articles of the year on the Mirror website mirror.co.uk.  

Well-known Prince fans, ranging from Mirror columnist and music expert Tony Parsons to England captain Rio Ferdinand and comedian Lenny Henry were full of praise for the album in reviews which were published in the papers.  Elton John requested to be sent copies of the album and fans around the world snapped up copies sold by enterprising readers on Ebay.  CDs were fetching up to £22 -  not a bad profit when the Mirror cost just 65p.

Mark Hollinshead, Managing Director of Trinity Mirror Nationals, said: "We are delighted with the huge response to the Prince promotion which has proved to be a successful sampling opportunity for both titles.

"This was also a great example of our editorial and commercial teams working closely together which resulted in the most effective way for Prince to reach his legion of UK fans.   

"Last Monday Prince gave his first UK interview for ten years - sparking international interest in the Mirror in the run up to Saturday's promotion.

"This was followed quickly by yesterday's exclusive interview with Marissa Reid, Raoul Moat's former lover, which again set the agenda for the UK's media."