Big (Cellular) Data

Hi! We’d like to wish all of our readers with triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) and all readers with paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of the fateful date itself) a completely unremarkable Friday. Today we’re exploring: - Stuck in the lab: Moderna’s revenues have collapsed. - Data-driven: The US is using more wireless data than ever. - Money: Sony is in talks to buy Pink Floyd’s catalog for $500 million. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply - we'd love to hear from you! TOGETHER WITH [Sponsor Logo](   Moderna, one of the most visible pharmaceutical brands of the pandemic, is struggling to adapt to a post-COVID world. Shares in the company traded down 12% yesterday after announcing [plans to slash $1.1 billion]( in annual R&D expenses while delaying its breakeven target to 2028 (from 2026), capping a brutal return to Earth for the once high-flying company. Moderna had a meteoric rise, with its mRNA technology one of a number of vaccines that helped ease lockdowns worldwide. That technology made the company a fortune: in just over a year, quarterly revenue skyrocketed from a modest $150 million to more than $7 billion. But, as the rest of the world moves on, the Massachusetts-based company has struggled, spending billions on R&D in search of its next product breakthrough, with revenue slumping sharply since 2021. And pulling back on investing in future projects, even if it technically saves the company money in the short-term, is not a growth story that investors want to hear. The company now says it expects 10 new product approvals by 2027, but for now it’s leaning heavily on two offerings: its COVID-19 vaccine and a recently approved RSV shot. [Read this on the web instead](   If you’ve tried to buy any kind of electronic good recently you’ve probably found a version that can connect to your phone and has an app that you need to download (which is usually terrible), with everything from smart watches, to smart light bulbs, to smart fridges, to self-driving cars now connected to the internet. Indeed, companies continue to produce connected versions of devices which, for years, functioned well without them. But, in fairness to the people behind those products, all of the evidence shows one thing: that America loves being online and staying connected. Indeed, according to wireless industry association CTIA’s [annual survey](, Americans used 100.1 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2023, nearly double the traffic that was driven in 2021 and more than the amount used in all the years from 2010 to 2018 combined. That’s a lot of watching, scrolling, working, texting, and — realistically — even more watching. The good news is that all of that mobile connectivity is a lot cheaper than it used to be. According to the report, Americans now pay $.002 per MB of wireless data — a 97% decrease from a decade prior and a 50% decrease since 2020, when the average cost of consumer goods and services began to soar. The uptick has been driven in large part by the rollout of 5G, which the CTIA estimates to be used by almost 40% of all wireless connections today. The rise in wireless data usage comes amidst an [ongoing standoff in Congress]( over how to find new spectrum, per Reuters. [Read this on the web instead](   [Sponsored by Attention]( Learn and lead with every call. No you hang up… Making sparks fly on a sales call isn’t easy. Reps need to know how to speak their customers’ language — and for that, [Attention’s AI]( is the ultimate assistant. Know the score… By analyzing sales call recordings, Attention’s AI works out where you’re winning. Then, it turns insights into scorecards delivered live on calls to help your team close the deal. Attention can even generate a follow-up email based on the content of the call, adapted to customer voice. [Attention also covers routine tasks]( like CRM updates, churn risk alerts, and flagging competitor mentions. That leaves your reps to do what people do best: the talking. [Turn every sales call into a learning opportunity with Attention.]( [Turn every sales call into a learning opportunity with Attention.](   Money British dad rock royalty Pink Floyd might be the latest artists to cash in on their back catalog, with Sony making an offer for the songbook to the tune of $500 million, according to a new report from [the FT](. The deal’s been a while in the making, as disagreements within the band that brought us The Dark Side of the Moon complicated negotiations [last year](. Although the internal feuding hasn’t faded — guitarist David Gilmour this week told fans who hoped for an Oasis-style reunion to “[dream on](” — Sony Music execs are hoping they can work out a way to add Pink Floyd’s music to their expanding portfolio. Full catalog sales have been happening in the music industry for decades, though the practice has surged in the years since the pandemic, when musicians found revenue streams aside from international touring, and investors were drawn in by the longevity of certain artists’ music. Thankfully for some of the biggest artists in music history, Sony (and others) have been all too happy to splash out on the rights for major songbooks. This year alone, Sony Music has spent $1.27 billion acquiring Queen’s catalog, as well as $600 million on a 50% share of Michael Jackson’s, and their ~$500 million [2021 deal]( to buy the Boss’s tunes still ranks as one of the costliest in music history. [Read this on the web instead](   More Data - India’s biggest IPO this year — from [Bajaj Housing Finance](, the home-loan unit of the country’s largest shadow lender — was oversubscribed by more than 60x, attracting $39 billion of bids. - Eminem’s 2005 greatest hits album has become the first hip-hop record to spend 700 weeks on the [Billboard 200](. - UK real estate portal Rightmove has rejected a £5.6 billion (~$7.4 billion) takeover offer from REA Group, the firm majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s [News Corporation](. - Celestial bodies: A record 19 people are currently [orbiting the Earth](. - The gift card grift that [keeps on giving](. - Viewership for the 2024 WNBA regular season was up 170% from last year, according to [ESPN]( — making it the most-viewed ever.   Listen to the first episode of Sherwood’s new tech podcast “Tomorrow”, where hosts Joshua Topolsky and Rani Molla dive into this week’s Apple event, the first presidential debate, and more. [Listen on Spotify](. [Listen on Apple Podcasts](.   Hold the phone: How about [AI-powered sales intelligence]( that writes follow-up emails based on your calls? That’s just one feature of Attention: the platform that analyzes your sales calls to show you where you’re winning leads. Attention’s actionable insights help earn an extra $250k in ARR per rep — [take a tour here](. Ad   Hi-Viz - This [cool visualization]( shows how competing grocery stores are distributed across America, and why it matters. - Who is, statistically, the [worst actor in movie history](? Off the charts: Which country is collecting more corporate tax than ever before? [Answer below]. [Answer here.](   Thanks for stopping by! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi, I like the newsletters, but I had a thought for you...) or want to [sponsor this newsletter](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com?subject=I’m interested in advertising with Sherwood Media)?   Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. 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