Madonna, the singer who famously refused to make her music available on iTunes, will become the first artist to release an album via mobile phone prior to its release in store.

The material girl, who is also fighting rumours that her marriage to Guy Ritchie is under threat, has announced plans to allow Vodafone customers in Europe to download her new album to their phones a week before its launch on April 28.

One song a day from Hard Candy - her 22nd album - will be made available to customers for download in the week prior to release at 99p each. The first single from the album, 4 Minutes, is already available for 75p.

The decision follows a similar move by the R&B producer Timbaland in the US last month, and marks a sharp departure from Madonna's approach to digital music services several years ago, when she was one of several high profile acts to resist making their music available on iTunes for fear that the site would bring about 'the death of the album'.

Madonna, who turns 50 this summer, has since relented, and in 2006 a ringtone of a new single, Hung Up, became the best-selling in 29 countries when it was released a month before the song went on sale in stores. Her children's books - read by the author - are also available on iTunes.

“This is an innovative way to reach millions of Madonna fans around the world,” said John Reid, vice chairman of WMI and president of Warner Music Europe.

Details of the release of Madonna's new album came amid reports that her marriage was under strain after her husband, the film director Guy Ritchie, failed to appear at the singer's recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"I am delighted to confirm that Mr and Mrs Guy Ritchie remain happily married,” Liz Rosenberg, Madonna's US spokeswoman, said today.

The early release of Hard Candy marks the latest in a series of attempts by mobile phone companies to seize back the initiative in the digital music market from the likes of Apple, which controls a huge share by virtue of the tie up between iPods and iTunes, its online music store.

Vodafone already offers a service called Music Station, which allows its 3G customers to access millions of tracks from all four major record labels via their phones for a weekly subscription of £1.99.

In the next couple of months, the company - the largest mobile operator by revenue - will also unveil a new service, Music Station Max, which will incorporate an 'all you can eat' package as part of the phone contract, though the songs will largely disappear when the contract expires.

Last week, O2, the operator, announced a deal with Napster which will allow its customers to choose from a library of five million songs for 99p each.

Nokia, the handset-maker, is also due in the second half of the year to release its 'Comes With Music' phone, which will have the entire Universal catalogue, including music from artists such as U2 , 'built in' to the handset when the customer signs their contract.

Last month the American R&B producer Tim 'Timbaland' Mosley, who has collaborated with singers such as Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, became the first artist to release an album exclusively via mobile on the Verizon network.

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