R.E.M. Pulls a Radiohead By Mark Fleischmann March 13, 2008 — Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, R.E.M. will offer its new album Accelerate free on the internet for a limited period before official CD and download release.

The band's chosen vehicle, in this case, is not its own website or BitTorrent but the social networking operation iLike. The new album will be available for both streaming and sharing between iLike users from March 24-26.

iLike is a plug-in for iTunes and the Windows Media Player as well as a standalone website. The plug-in, or sidebar, will carry a video message from R.E.M. discussing the new album. Lead singer Michael Stipe, who gives excellent quote, calls the album "our turbo-charged response to the times we live in."

iLike is a startup featuring some heavy hitters on its boards of directors and advisors including former Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, Ticketmaster president Sean Moriarty, "fifth Beatle" George Martin, and MTV founder Bob Pittman.

Spin calls the album "much improved" over its predecessor. "Accelerate corrals 35 minutes of the fastest songs Stipe and Co. have written in decades, all performed with a sense of joyous purpose."

After its iLike debut, the album will be released at the end of March as a standard CD, a CD+DVD package, and an iTunes Deluxe download.