Pop group McFly gave away copies of their new album with the Mail on Sunday, but newspaper sales failed to reach the success of a similar promotion by Prince last year, according to early circulation figures, Gigwise reported Thursday.

Thanks to the album, the newspaper sold 2.4 million copies Sunday, 300,000 more than it usually sells.

However, when Prince gave away free copies of his “Planet Earth” album with the UK Sunday newspaper last year, it sold 600,000 extra units, Gigwise reported.

Prince was the first musician to release his album in a UK newspaper, and was followed by Paul McCartney and UB40. The deluxe edition McFly's album released in the newspaper, “RADIO:Active,” will be released to stores in September.