In 2012, the overall recorded music revenue in China was around $88 million. And it grew to $92 million 2013, then $97 million in 2014, which is steady without large growth. A big breakthrough came in 2015 when it soared to $202 million for the year.

"The protecting of intellectual property rights was the reason for this," as Cussion Pang, CEO of Tencent Music Entertainment Group, said at the forum.

And paid services such as those offered by QQ Music really began to take off after China's National Copyright Administration issued a notice in 2015 that online music delivery platforms had to remove all unauthorized songs.

"Right now we have a comprehensive music catalog with over 70 million songs. And we're also helping Chinese labels distribute their music overseas as well," Pang says.

There are about 700 million music lovers in China now, and for QQ Music, the number of monthly active users is about 400 million, which represents nearly 90 percent of the country's online music market.

Besides the forums, Music Matters also features an attendant music festival and this year there were performances by 40 acts from 12 countries, including one by indie rock band, Rid, from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Founded in 2014, the five members - vocalist Hohchahar Sudul, guitarist Hogjim, bassist Shigeta Shisuke, horsehead fiddle player Hhaimuritai and drummer Zheng Xuyang - combine traditional Mongolian music with contemporary music elements.

"This is the first time for us to introduce a Chinese band to Music Matters, which is a great showcase," says Liu Zhao, founder of Stellion Era Cultural Communication, the Beijing-based company, which is the promoter of the band, Rid. "We want to introduce more Chinese bands to overseas audiences, letting them see the diversity of the music scene in China now."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn