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.