Evergrande Music lays out grand plans

Three months ago, Taihe Rye Music's former CEO Song Ke surprised many by opening Long Joy Peking Duck restaurant. He recently made another surprising announcement - that he'll assume the role of managing director of Evergrande Music, a new music company owned by property developer Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd.

Another personality of the Chinese music industry, songwriter-producer Gao Xiaosong, has been appointed the managing director for music.

The real estate group has invested 850 million yuan ($134 million) in Evergrande Music.

According to Song, the music company has already bought copyrights for more than 3,500 songs and will launch a series of concerts across the country to promote original Chinese pop music. They include 10 concerts by rock singer-songwriter Wang Feng.

For Gao, his main mission is to discover and train new talents. The company signed on its first new singer, 16-year-old Zhou Ziyan, who rose to fame by playing guitar and singing online. Gao says four albums have already been mapped out for Zhou.