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The Abbey Road studios library and EMI Archive

Abbey Road has always been at the heart of the British music industry. We place great value on heritage and sustainability, and are world leaders in modern preservation techniques and asset management.

As part of the studios group, the EMI Archive is home to one of the world’s largest and oldest music archives. Our collections cover many aspects of the music industry, from its tin-foil origins in 1877 to the digital age of today, from The Beatles to Lily Allen.

The collection of rare musical assets is so diverse that the archive is housed in a purpose-built facility where the temperature and humidity is controlled at optimum levels. The expert team of librarians and archivists carefully store, catalogue and track EMI’s master tapes, artwork, photos, recording information, CDs, vinyl and 78s.

In conjunction with Abbey Road, there is a continuing programme of transferring degrading formats on to modern digital platforms.

For more information on digitisation services please see SMARTLAB.

Insights

“What the Beatles did at Abbey Road will resonate and excite forever, but I am also in awe of everything else done here, from Elgar to Ernie, from Laurel and Hardy to Menuhin and Grappelli. And it has always attracted the best talents in the business, staff whose creativity is matched by their expertise and friendliness. I love the place and feel great as soon as I step inside. ”

Mark Lewisohn official biographer of The Beatles