Making money from music on the mainland has proved almost impossible in recent years. Even before downloading songs for free became the norm, there was no music-buying culture among young people. If that was not enough, the wary official attitude towards Western-style musicians, the limited number of venues and the lack of exposure from the mainstream media, all conspire against budding music moguls.
But music executive Scarlett Li Dai believes that she can succeed where others have failed. Having organised last year's inaugural Zebra Music Festival in Chengdu, she is convinced that festivals are key to the future of the mainland music industry.
'Before there were records and CDs, we had Mozart and Beethoven and they survived on live performances. If they could do it, so can we,' says Li, as she gears up for this year's three-day event. 'There's a huge market for live music.'
She has ambitious plans to turn Zebra into a festival to rival the largest in Europe and the US.
'I think China has the capacity and the market to stage very big music festivals, but we don't yet have one that can equal a Glastonbury in Britain or a Coachella in the US,' says Li. 'The main reason is that to establish any big music festival takes time. It takes money, brains, good co-operation with the local government and the determination to continue running even at a loss. I want to build Zebra into that sort of music festival 10 years down the road.'
That's a bold statement given the history of such events on the mainland. Even established festivals such as the annual Midi and Modern Sky events are subject to the whims of officialdom and have had to move to different cities or cancel because they clashed with sensitive anniversaries or special events.