Sony BMG Music Entertainment has made news in recent years for its poor attitude towards it's customers in relation to DRM (Digital Rights Management) on legitimately purchased music CDs and MP3s but it appears now they are finally seeing the light .

From January 15th in the U.S., and late January in Canada Sony BMG will offer a limited amount of tracks for download without restriction. However rather than simply purchase the tracks from a digital download store, customers must go to a retail store and purchase a Platinum MusicPass ($12.99 RRP). Then they must scratch the card to reveal a code which will then give them access to around 37 albums on the Sony BMG website.

Allegedly it is hoped that forcing its customers to go to a retail store first will increase the sales of music on physical media as well as downloadable music but with unprotected MP3s already available through iTunes, Amazon, EMI, Universal and Warner without requiring you first go to a retail store it's going to be a tough battle for Sony BMG.