NEW YORK (Hypebot) — WMG's R.E.M. and iLike announced today that "Accelerate", the band’s 14th studio album, will stream in its entirety exclusively on iLike and its syndicates beginning Monday, March 24th. The iLike "Worldwide Listening Party" will continue through March 26th prior to the album’s North American release on April 1st. R.E.M. will also record an exclusive video and discussing the album that will be available via iLike.
In addition to being available on iLike, this promotion extends to the iLike Sidebar desktop plugin for iTunes and Windows Media Player as well as via iLike’s applications on Facebook, Bebo, hi5 and the iPhone. The band already uses iLike's Artist Dashboard to post content across multiple syndication channels via iLike's "Post Once, Publish Everywhere" platform. The album will also be available for pre-order via iLike’s retail links to iTunes and Amazon.com.
“Collaborating with iLike and debuting Accelerate across the Web is in keeping with the spirit and immediacy of the album,” says the band’s frontman Michael Stipe. “We wanted to do something superfast and super real. Music, art, and pop culture are about right now, and nothing else matters. Accelerate is our turbo-charged response to the times we live in.”
With 11 songs clocking in at just 34 minutes, Accelerate includes songs inspired by the WTO riots in Seattle, Hurricane Katrina and other topical themes.
