The pirates are dying: Long live music

"Chinese audiences, especially young people, love music, and they keep up with the newest singles online," says Wuli Yasu, vice-president of Modern Sky.

"Each year when we plan the Strawberry Music Festival, the kind of music these fans want is uppermost in our minds."

The company says it will organize about 30 outdoor music festivals throughout the country this year, in first- second- and third-tier cities.

The country's booming music scene has reached new heights with more and more big-name musicians exploring the market. On April 30, on the other side of the capital, about 30,000 people enjoyed the first Grammy Festival at Beijing Changyang Music Theme Park, the headliners including the 11-time winner American rapper Pharrell Williams, the American soul singer-songwriter Macy Gray, the American singer and songwriter Daya and the French indie band Phoenix.

"I know hip-hop and jazz are growing in China," says Neil Portnow, chairman and chief executive of the Recording Academy, creator of the Grammy Awards, when he was in Beijing to announce the event last August.

"That's what we want to do - to discover next-generation musicians for different kinds of music, to encourage them that there is a good future in the industry."

In a recent report the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said the global recorded music market grew 8.1 percent last year, its third consecutive year of growth since the federation began tracking the market in 1997. China ranked 10th for the size of its music market last year, the first time it has been in the top 10.