"We're not hired by someone. We work for ourselves."

The company's first move was to make the mainland's largest music copyright purchase - of 3,500 songs.

Online research undertaken in 2012 shows 85 percent of Internet users listen to music every day, Gao says.

"That means there's still demand for music," he says.

"It's not dying. We can use the copyrights to make the music market better. The Internet and digital music have changed things. We hope to create a healthy circle for Chinese songwriters."

Song surprised many when he opened a Peking duck restaurant in February.

But he says he isn't leaving the music industry.

"I have a professional team to run the restaurant. With the new music company's launch, I feel my second spring is coming," Song says, laughing.