Highlights: To introduce the legal restrictions on foreign companies to invest in service of operating online music in China and the practical ways that multinationals provide local online music services in China. 

As recent news says, the streaming subscription music website Pandora (NYSE:P) will enter into P.R. China, and is head-hunting a capable CEO. However, Pandora’s online music service by China laws shall be categorized as telecom value-added service as well as internet culture service. Though the foreign investment in telecom value-added service is legally permitted, the internet culture service remains banned.