The last one of the four major record companies, Sony BMG, has finally decided to start selling music without DRM.  Unlike the other big 3 record companies that sell DRM-free MP3s through online music stores such as Amazon and iTunes, Sony has decided to go its own way by providing tracks through its Platinum MusicPass service, but where customers must still head to the shops.  When it launches on January 15th, 37 albums including music from Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne and Bruce Springsteen will be available.  To download an album, customers will first need to purchase album gift cards in retail stores such as Best Buy and Target, which will retail for $12.99.  The number printed on the back of the card can then be used to download one complete album on the website.

Up until now, Sony BMG has been very reluctant to drop DRM measures and probably would not have done so if it had not been for the other three labels now doing so.  At one point Sony BMG even went to the extreme measure of using dangerous rootkits on its CDs just to try to stop people ripping its music.  Up until a few years ago, Sony would not even support the MP3 format on its digital walkman players.

Hopefully over time, Sony BMG will finally join the others in making its music available in the MP3 format on online stores such as Amazon, iTunes and so on.  Its current plan in a way defeats the whole point of making music available to download online, since consumers must still go to a retail store to purchase the gift cards and just like CDs, each gift card can only be used to obtain a complete album.  So if the gift cards not far off the price of the retail CDs, it would be more worth while purchasing physical albums, which would not only give one access to true CD quality audio on physical media, but also give the ability for them to rip the tracks in a bitrate of their choice and not just the set bit rate available online.

Further info on this can be read on BBC and TechSpot.