The annoying thing about Sony and SACD was that at the time they stopped, SACD was just about at it's peak of comsumer conscienceness and getting a lot of press.
Dark Side of the Moon was released that year, and it's 5.1 "surround mix" was written up in many newspapers and magazine across the world as the "ultimate" way to be heard. More labels, like Blue Note, were releasing big titles like Norah Jones's breakout release. The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan SACDs were in the stores with publicity, and there was even a Rolling Stones 5.1 SACD released of "Sympathy of the Devil". SACD sections were in the stores, players were in the stores, UMG was about to release the Eltons, the Claptons, etc. Then, the ultimate publicity deal, the Rolling Stone Magazine freebie SACD was distributed to millions of subscribers and newstand readers. SACD was on a roll.......
Then, just when the time was perfect for a massive Sony SACD release campaign, the entire machine STOPPED. Only a handful of pop SACD's were released the next year, John Mayers's disc one of them. Sony left UMG as the only major label releasing pop titles, and they withdrew the next year.
To me, this is what makes me crazy. It was such a missed opportunity. They had to stick it out and go for it, instead they withdrew. And the timing could not have been worse.
I think if they released a slew of SACDs to follow the Rolling Stone Magazine SACD, they would have buried DVD-A and established a HiRez marketplace. Not replacing CD, but providing an alternative, high end product.
It was not meant to be.
And that sucks...............