Please Don't Stop The Music

Hi, today we explore: (1) Salary transparency's becoming the new norm, (2) A music mega fund is selling some songs, (3) Where the UN's money goes. TOGETHER WITH Today's Topics Hello! NASA has appointed a new director of unidentified anomalous phenomenon or, as some have termed it, a [UFO Czar](. Today we’re exploring: - How much does this pay? Salary transparency is coming to a job site near you. - Music mega fund: After acquiring 65,000 songs, Hipgnosis is now selling ~20% of them off. - Nation allocation: What does the UN spend its budget on? Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! [Read this on the web instead]( See-through salaries The days of waiting until the end of a job interview to awkwardly ask about pay may soon be behind us, according to job-searching site [Indeed.com]( as new data reveals that just over 50% of listings now contain prospective salary information — more than triple the proportion seen in early 2019. That’s the highest share Indeed has ever recorded, which has likely been accelerated by a spate of new wage laws and regulations across the country, with an estimated 44.8 million workers, over 26% of the American labor force, now covered by pay range transparency [legislation](. Range life States with laws that call for at least some level of salary visibility see their regulations reflected in Indeed’s data. Job hunters in Colorado, [the first state]( to implement legislation tackling compensation transparency in 2021, can expect salary info on 81% of Indeed listings, while New York state — where new transparency legislation came into effect [on Sunday]( — saw visibility almost double to 61%, after NYC implemented changes late [last year](. Apart from saving time for everyone involved, as well as reducing the asymmetry of information between employee and employer, pay transparency has also [been hailed]( as a way to reduce the gender pay gap. Hits don’t lie Hipgnosis Songs Fund — a music mega fund that's spent the last 5 years and more than $2 billion acquiring the intellectual property rights to more than 65,000 songs — has announced that it's selling ~20% of its portfolio for $465m. Entire song collections from Shakira, Barry Manilow, and Nelly will change hands in the deal, as the fund seeks to cut debts and buy back shares with the proceeds generated by the 29-catalog sale announced [last week](. The idea behind the UK-based fund is simple. Founder Merck Mercuriadis believes that hit songs are actually long-term predictable assets that, in most cases, will hold their value for decades to come — particularly as streaming continues to be the rising tide lifting all boats. Born to run deals Hipgnosis’s aggressive deal-making has contributed to the trend of songwriters cashing in on their copyrights. The allure of big lump-sum payments, rather than royalties spread over [decades]( is obvious. Some of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, have [reportedly received]( $500m and $300m for selling off their respective songbooks. Funds like Hipgnosis are comfortable shouldering the risk, and the rewards, associated with the future value of their music. But in HSF’s case, they might have slightly overstuffed their playlist just at the wrong moment: a [pivotal vote in October]( determines whether shareholders will back the fund for another 5 years, or completely stop the music. [Sponsored by Decipad]( Spreadsheets, brought to life Data is rarely one dimensional — we don’t have to tell you that. But like many things, seeing is believing. For brands, that means finding engaging ways to present the facts. And because a list of numbers rarely tells the whole story, you need [Decipad](. Take this [Decipad model]( on solar panel investment. What starts as a few functions in a spreadsheet is transformed into a [playful, interactive read](. By combining natural language processing with spreadsheet-like capabilities, [Decipad]( lets anyone craft stories with data. - Playful Modeling: Connect text, data, and visuals into a dynamic story. - Craft Scenarios: Make reports explorable with widgets and no-code elements. - Real-Time Data: Keep your business case fresh with live data connections. Try the [Decipad beta]( now — and join the Discord community to see the stunning stories already built. [Step into the future of data viz: Try Decipad free today]( United front? This week, more than 140 world leaders and state representatives will arrive in New York to discuss a range of international [issues]( — including the climate crisis, the economy of the global South, and the war in Ukraine — at the [78th session]( of the United Nations General Assembly. The annual summit will see global policy makers take to the stage in Tuesday’s high-level [General Debate]( — although, notably, with fewer familiar faces. Amongst the 5 nations in the Security Council (the US, China, Russia, France, and Britain), President Biden will be the only leader to attend the meeting, with Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak both citing scheduling conflicts. Even so, this summit will be the first attended in-person by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is seeking support against Russia’s invasion in tomorrow’s session. First aid Since being founded in 1945, the UN has aimed to gather its member states — of which there are now 195, compared with the 51 that signed the original [UN Charter]( — to find shared solutions to global problems. However, as the world’s needs have changed significantly, so have the UN’s priorities. While in 2010, the majority of the UN’s budget (44%) was issued to help developing countries, the allocation for humanitarian assistance has increased substantially in the last decade, nearly doubling from 23% in 2010 to 42% in 2021. Since then, global humanitarian needs have risen further to reach [record levels]( amid economic hardship, conflicts, and natural disasters, the UN reported in June that 360 million people globally require humanitarian assistance — up 30% since the start of 2022. More Data • Dollar General shares have slid another 10% in the last week, making it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 Index in August, after the company warned that [unsold inventory was piling up]( in its most recent quarter. • Boom-bot: Engineers have made a tiny robot, capable of carrying up to 22x its own weight, that is able to walk by repeatedly [exploding]( rather than using a battery. • According to Forbes, solar panels save the average household $1500 a year. If you want a more precise estimate, [Decipad]( — the data storytelling notebook — can show you, with [this solar panel ROI model](. Got a story to tell with numbers? Try [Decipad]( now.** • Today marks the 10th anniversary of the carjacking video game [Grand Theft Auto V]( the most profitable entertainment product ever made, which has sold over 185 million copies globally since its debut. **This is sponsored content. Hi-Viz • Hold on tight for this drop into the biggest, most expensive, and crowded [theme parks]( in the world. • How different religious groups in the US [view the decline of marriage](. Off the charts: Which country, that was hit by [electricity blackouts last week]( is set to overtake the US as the third-most-populous country in the world by 2050? [Answer below]. [Answer here](. Thanks for reading. See you on Wednesday! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi%2C%0A%0AI%20like%20the%20newsletters%2C%20but%20I%20had%20a%20thought%20for%20you...) or want to [sponsor]( this newsletter? Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. [Subscribe]( Copyright © 2023 CHARTR LIMITED, All rights reserved. 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