R.E.M. are to make their new album, ‘Accelerate’, available one week early via the social networking application iLike.

Fans will be able to stream the album in its entirety on platforms such as Facebook and iTunes, which use the popular application.

The album stream will be accompanied by a video of the group talking about the record.

"It was one of those ideas that was presented to us and it seemed like a good one so we ran for it," R.E.M.’s frontman Michael Stipe told Billboard.

He added that they had noticed the way people approached music had changed over the last decade.

“I think you can either go with it or sit back and watch it happen, and I would rather be out on the field than in the bleachers,” he said.

‘Accelerate’ is out officially on CD, Download and Vinyl formats on March 31st.

(by Jason Gregory)