Prince is launching his new Planet Earth album as a free giveaway with a national Sunday newspaper in a move that has drawn widespread condemnation from music retailers.
The 10-track CD will be available free with an "imminent" edition of the newspaper. Planet Earth will then go on sale on July 24.
"It's all about giving music for the masses and he believes in spreading the music he produces to as many people as possible," said Mail on Sunday managing director Stephen Miron.
"This is the biggest innovation in newspaper promotions in recent times."
The paper will be ramping up its print run in anticipation of a huge spike in circulation but would not reveal how much the deal with Prince would cost.
One music store executive described the plan as "madness" while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores.
Prince's label broke off ties in the UK with the album in a bid to appease music stores.
The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said the giveaway "beggars belief".
"It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference.
"It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.
"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores.
"And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday." High street music giant HMV was similarly scathing about the plans. Speaking before rumours of a giveaway were confirmed, HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "I think it would be absolutely nuts."
"I can't believe the music industry would do it to itself. I simply can't believe it would happen, it would be absolute madness."
Prince, whose Purple Rain sold more than 11m copies, also plans to give away a free copy of his latest album with each ticket sold for his upcoming string of concerts in London.
The singer had signed a global deal as well for the promotion and distribution of Planet Earth in partnership with Columbia Records, a division of music company Sony BMG.
A spokesman for the group said tonight that the UK arm of Sony BMG had withdrawn from Prince's global deal and would not be distributing the album to UK stores.
"We think it is the right thing to do in the difficult retail market," he said. "We are delighted Prince has come back to a major label but this makes sense for the UK."
The Mail on Sunday, owned by Associated Newspapers, has built up a reputation for music giveaways and this is not the first time it has drawn harsh criticism.
It most recently clashed with musician Mike Oldfield over the giveaway of his album Tubular Bells.
Still, the paper maintains that its covermount CDs of artists such as Simply Red, Madness and Dolly Parton stimulate interest in music and it has asked retailers to look at partnerships.
"The Mail on Sunday is the biggest distributor of albums in this country," said Mr Miron. "We are saying to retailers we would be happy to engage in dialogue."