Restore needed to unlock iphone 5?

I'm with virgin mobile and was told to complete the unlock process, i must restore my phone. I really don't want to, as every time I've restored my phone, my music is gone and apps are all the place.
is there any other way to surpass this?

Why don't you jus back up your songs and apps onto your iTunes? Usually when you're about to restore an apple product it would ask if you want to back it up therefore saving all your contacts, info, music, and games how you originally had it.