Sony BMG to offer gift cards for unprotected MP3s
Call it a mix-and-match approach to music retailing.
Sony BMG's Platinum MusicPass
Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the top four music labels, is the latest to meld an offline-online sales strategy. The record company said in a press release it will soon offer gift cards through brick-and-mortar stores that can be used to redeem music from the Web.
The best part of the offering is that the music is available in unprotected MP3s, more proof that Sony BMG is easing away from copy-protection software. Citing unnamed sources, BusinessWeek reported last week that the label is preparing to strip digital rights management software from at least part of its catalog. The other three large record companies have already begun dropping DRM.
The gift cards, called Platinum MusicPass, can be purchased at Best Buy, Target, and other retail stores starting Jan. 15. The way they work is this: fans of Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, or other Sony artists can purchase the cards, scratch the back off to reveal a PIN and then punch that number into Musicpass.com to retrieve full-length albums. Initially, 37 titles will be offered.
It's important to note that the music is "anonymously watermarked," which means that it can't be used to identify users or where the music was purchased, according to the company. The watermarking is intended to help the label learn whether songs are being shared on peer-to-peer networks.
Considering Sony's history with privacy, it's likely that some users might get spooked.
Sony ignited a major controversy two years ago when it was discovered that the company had used "rootkit" technology to embed copy protection software in its CDs.
The gift cards feature artist images and album information and represent the latest effort by a record company to spur people to buy complete digital albums. The Internet has rung the death knell for albums but the labels continue to look for ways to boost sales.
Other efforts by some of the company's competitors include music-loaded USB drives. Warner Music Group, which recently reported that it's the only major record company to grow unit sales in 2007, released an album by the band Matchbox Twenty on a USB drive fitted into a bracelet.
A nice idea, but the public has yet to show much interest in buying digital music attached to physical packages. Why not just buy a CD and rip the music later?
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
Sony's gift card scheme is a silly inconvenience that will most likely fail.
are DRM free, that means that there is nothing that must be
installed on your system (besides a media player) in order to
play the files.
Good for them for watermarking their music. I can understand
wanting to know if people are sharing your unprotected files via
peer to peer. Maybe one of these days the low-lives that are
illegally sharing files will get a clue that if they don't illegally
share music, the record companies might be a little more willing
to give up DRM.
Now the only thing that really seems stupid about all of this is
that unless the cards are significantly cheaper than CDs (=>$5),
you may as well just buy the physical CD, and rip it yourself with
a higher bitrate, and have a backup already in your possession.
- No iTunes, no sale
- by rcrusoe January 7, 2008 8:52 AM PST
- Based on statistics, if your songs aren't available on iTunes,
- Reply to this comment
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- iTunes Only = No sale
- by Renegade Knight January 7, 2008 9:04 AM PST
- My first experience was iTunes. I got a bunch of free MP3's and iTunes is such a PITA (especially since I don't use an iPod) that it's just not worth it.
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(7 Comments)then 80+% of the online buying public isn't going to buy your
music. I've made some purchases from AmazonMP3 but it isn't
even close to iTunes for convenience.
Most legal downloaders aren't geeks and won't jump through all
these hoops. Most downloaders won't bother because they don't
pay for music.
Sony's sneakernet purchasing plan IMO, is just another in a long
line of their stupid moves.
I actually do buy from Amazon. The best part about Amazon is that it works on iTunes, or just as important works without iTune. No muss no fuss.