Chris Martin and Coldplay opt for a new approach on Viva la Vida. (AP file photo)

If you can't plug the leak, start your own stream.

That's what Brit-rockers Coldplay did once their hotly anticipated fourth album ended up on the Internet this week, a full 13 days ahead of its scheduled release date.

Assuming you haven't already heard, downloaded, burned it and shared it with everyone you know, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends began streaming yesterday in its entirety on the band's MySpace page.

It is scheduled to remain up on the site until it lands in stores on June 17, according to a news release. On Monday, MuchMusic's website and MTV.ca will also begin streaming the disc.

The announcements came less than 48 hours after a low-quality copy of the 10-song album -- the fourth studio release from singer Chris Martin and Co. -- leaked onto file-sharing sites on Wednesday afternoon and spread like a virus throughout the Net.

The leak is potentially disastrous news for EMI, the band's label; it's been reported that the company is counting on the disc to be one of the year's top-selling albums and to help combat an industry-wide sales slump. To prime the pump, the album's first single, Violet Hill, was given away online for a week in April -- and downloaded more than a million times, according to some estimates. The band has also scheduled free performances in London and New York after the CD release, along with a 64-date tour that includes a full slate of Canadian stops. Despite all of that, some analysts doubt that Viva la Vida can match the sales of its predecessor, 2005's X&Y, which sold 10 million copies globally.

The good news? Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is every bit the ambitious, artful epic its title suggests. With the help of maverick producer Brian Eno -- famed for his work with U2 and others -- the band have radically pushed the boundaries of both their songcraft and their sound beyond their trademark Britrock anthems and falsetto piano ballads. Electronica instrumentals, Middle Eastern percussion, Celtic influences and strings are sprinkled throughout these songs, while the gigantic hooks and radio-friendly choruses of the past are fewer and farther between.

You can go to www.myspace.com/coldplay to hear Coldplay's bold new approach.

Of course, whether it's bold enough to make fans pony up on June 17 remains to be seen.