Pay for free lunch

The search for resurrection in the recording business is never-ending. But unlike movies, recorded music is easier to download and few mind the loss in sound quality. Worse, people are accustomed to getting it for free.

There have been rumblings in recent months that July 1 is to be the magical day that music distribution in China swerves from rampant piracy to law-abiding, fee-collecting happily-ever-after.

According to Gao Xiaosong, a noted musician, several forces are converging toward legal distribution of music in China. For one thing, many of the big record labels have reached an agreement to offer for-fee downloading, and to make it palatable they have lowered their asking price.