REM will stream their forthcoming album Accelerate, through the iLike application, that is used on the popular social networking site Facebook.

Users will be able to preview the album and even share it with others in the network, a week before the official release.

As bands search for new ways to get their albums heard, this is the first time that a major act has used the iLike medium to do so. Michael Stipe says of the technology available to internet users, “I think you can go with it or sit back and watch it happen, and I would rather be out there in the field than in the bleachers.”

Accelerate will be on iLike on March24th and in shops March31st.