As you must know by now, Guns N Roses long awaited 'Chinese Democracy' album is out in the UK today. But that's by the by, really, because you've almost certainly already listened to it on MySpace. The band made the album available to stream in full on their page on the site last Thursday and promptly broke all records for the number of people listening to one band. At its peak, the page was racking up an astonishing 25 listens per second, making it the most successful music page on the site ever. Which I think means everyone in the world has listened to it twice. If by some miracle you haven't checked it out yet, go to www.myspace.com/gunsnroses
Elsewhere in Guns N Roses news, the band issued a statement this weekend regarding the previously reported Dr Pepper promotion tied to their album. As previously reported, Dr Pepper promised to give everyone in America a free can of their drink if 'Chinese Democracy' was released by the end of the year. With the album out in the US yesterday, Americans could go online and register for a free can. Some have said the fact people need to register is a con, because it means the drinks firm get a valuable database of email addresses on the back of the Guns N Roses album release.
The band issued a slightly confusing statement which distanced themselves from the drinks firm's giveaway, but then told fans to go get their free can. The statement read: "For those who heard about Dr. Pepper's offer to give each and every American a free can of soda if Chinese Democracy is released in 2008, Guns N' Roses wants to make sure every Guns N' Roses fan, and every other American, gets what was promised. The band is not involved in this promotion, but understood that every American (with a couple of exceptions) would get a free can of Dr Pepper. Apparently, only those who go to the soda company's Web site on Sunday, November 23 and sign up for a free 20 ounce soda coupon will get the free can. Guns N' Roses encourages all those interested to sign up for their coupon on Sunday, collect their drink and celebrate the release of Chinese Democracy!"