REM launch new album on the web

By Jim Reed
Newsbeat technology reporter

REM are playing four outdoor concerts in the UK this summer

REM have become the first well-known rock band to release a new album on a social networking site.

Fans can now listen to all 11 tracks from the album Accelerate, a week before the CD is available in the shops on 31 March.

People must download a plug-in application called iLike which streams music over the internet for free.

The album is also available directly from the iLike website but users will still have to pay to download tracks.

I think you can either go with it or sit back and watch it happen Michael Stipe, REM

REM lead singer Michael Stipe told Billboard.com: "It was one of those ideas that was presented to us and it seemed like a good one so we ran for it."

He said the way that listeners find music had certainly changed in the last five or 10 years: "I think you can either go with it or sit back and watch it happen."

Free albums trend

REM are just the latest band to experiment with new ways of distributing music.

Radiohead started the trend last year when they allowed fans to decide how much they were prepared to pay for their new album, In Rainbows.

Radiohead's In Rainbows was available free online last October

The Charlatans' latest album, You Cross My Path, has been downloaded more than 60,000 times since its free launch on the band's website earlier this month.

Madonna has signed a deal with Vodafone to make her new album, Hard Candy, available on mobile phones from 21 April, a week before its official launch in the shops.

The record industry as a whole is struggling as more customers download music over the internet. Album sales fell by 11% in 2007, according to the main industry body, the BPI.

By making tracks available online, record companies hope to prevent widespread piracy before an album's official release date.

That is a difficult task. Leaked copies of REM's new album were available to download on torrent-based websites weeks ago.

REM will be joining Jo Whiley in Radio 1's Live Lounge this Wednesday after 1200.