EMI, the parent company behind Virgin Records and Capitol Records announced that they will release 17 new SACD titles. The first group of artists are projected to include Geri Halliwell, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Beverley Knight, Coldplay, Joe Cocker, David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney. Virgin Records also has artists like Blue Man Group out on the competing format, DVD-Audio.

EMI’s UK representatives weren’t available for comment on whether or not Sony is paying any part of development costs for their SACD titles as Sony is doing for Universal (UMG).

There has been no mention as to how many of the tiles will be remastered into 5.1 as opposed to simply a higher resolution stereo version. Surround mixes require quite a bit more mix not to mention creative input from top engineers, producers along with the artists. For these reasons 5.1 mixes are far more difficult and much more expensive to release.

EMI’s dedication to the SACD format might be the strongest of the big labels to date besides Sony. While 17 titles is a drop in the bucket for a label as big as EMI, they have announced that they are outfitting a Super Audio CD production centre at its Abbey Road Recording Studios in London.

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