A court case between Clear Channel Communications and Grantely Patent Holdings finally came to a close on April 22 when Grantely was awarded $66 million from Clear Channel due to patent infringement.

Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora and the Music Genome Project, visited Berklee to give a clinic on the potential future of music regarding radio, internet radio, and streaming. Pandora is a free Internet radio site, which allows you to create your own stations and easily find new music. The Music Genome Project allows people to gain access to unknown and more obscure bands. The genome employs fifty music analysts to listen to songs all day and analyze them using up to 400 different attributes.

A powerhouse was declared on March 30 connecting Live Nation and rapper Jay-Z in a 150 million dollar contract. After announcing the departure from his former record label, Def Jam, Jay-Z has struck a deal with Live Nation which will encompass the financing of Jay-Z’s own entertainment venture, Roc Nation, along with live shows and tours expanding a scope of 10 years. Roc Nation will be the umbrella for all of Jay-Z’s outside projects including his own label, music publishing, and A&R.

Apple’s iTunes store may soon offer unlimited access to its music collection. A flat fee paid with new iPod purchases or a monthly subscription would allow the customer to download as many tracks as they wanted at no extra charge.

As music consumption changes, new business models emerge. One such company, Qtrax is stepping out with one of the first advertiser-supported free and legal P2P file-sharing sites. Currently Qtrax contains DRM-laden music only suitable for Windows PC, but it plans to release a version for Mac OS X in March. However, as of now downloaded songs are only compatible with WMDRM players, effectively excluding Apple’s iPod. Representatives from Qtrax have declared that it is only a matter of months before a suitable iPod-compatible version is ready.

Music website Last.fm announced on January 23rd that it will begin offering full tracks online for free. The website, now owned by CBS, has secured licensing agreements with the four major record labels, as well as thousands of independent labels. Last.fm derives its revenue from advertising and pays out royalties to labels each time users stream a track. Over 15 million unique users from all over the world use the site, which operates as an online community for music fans. Listeners are able to find and discover new music based on their taste and previous selections.

The latest issue of Billboard reports on the fact that after this year’s Grammy Awards, the industry did not experience massive sales growth like previous years, which have seen increases “as much as one to two million in incremental sales.”(1)

Grammy ratings are down since last year, and there is simply a lack of interest among young viewers.(2) A week after the show aired, only certain artists have benefited from the exposure the Grammy Awards traditionally bring.