Rockers to promote paying for tunes

The huge numbers of pirated CDs and high levels of illegal downloading are forcing Chinese musicians to find alternative ways to make a living. However, a group of rock heroes believe that the chaos of China's music industry won't kill off rock 'n' roll.

On a cool summer night in Beijing, dozens of local rock musicians gathered to launch the "One Yuan Campaign", which will tour the country for almost three months, performing 20 shows in Chinese cities. The group will sell their albums priced at one yuan to save the original Chinese rock music and the industry.

"A pop singer could make about 10,000 yuan ($1,580) for three songs in one night at a commercial show. But when it comes to selling CDs, the singer gets very little money from the copyright," said Yin Fang, the leading singer-songwriter of the rock band Candy Doll, who also started the One Yuan Campaign in 2010. "You can imagine how bad the situation is for a rock musician in China."

With no royalties, pirated CDs and illegal downloading, this is one of the ways bands have learned to survive in China. "I have also performed at commercial gigs. I never thought I could perform on stage for five minutes and earn so much money," says Yin, who performed the band's classic song, 1983, at the show that night.

With support from peers, such as the rock band Heaven, drummer Chen Lei, and bassist Yao Lin, the One Yuan Campaign will spread of idea of respecting original Chinese music and paying for copyright.

"It's really a tough thing to make rock music in China," says Zhang Fan, the head of Midi Music School, who has has brought the One Yuan Campaign to the Midi Music Festival since 2010 by setting up tents to sell albums for one yuan. "It's not about the price. We want music lovers to have a habit of paying for good music they like," he adds.

The campaign will also be taken to upcoming outdoor music festivals around the country, such as the Big Love Music Festival at Chengdu from June 21 to 24 and live shows around China, with tickets priced at one yuan.