Moderna is reportedly planning to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent, to match the previously announced price hike of Pfizer-BioNTech’s rival vaccine. Not only that, the company has announced that it expects to make a minimum of $5 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales in 2023, with their current cash and cash equivalents standing at $18 billion. Such a steep price increase has already been lambasted by lawmakers, who have accused the companies of ‘unseemly profiteering’. Read full article here
Oddities
Why Do Modern Pop Songs Have So Many Credited Writers?
The music industry has changed dramatically over the last few decades – with the number of songwriters credited on number one hits more than doubling. This is due to a combination of factors, including money, the computer and a changing definition of what songwriting is. For example, if The Beatles’ classic “I Feel Fine” was released today, it would likely have four writers credited instead of two, due to the influence of producers, samples and interpolations. With the rise of lawsuits, artists now preemptively add songwriter credits to their songs, even if the similarities between their song and the source material are coincidental. It all goes to show that the music industry is becoming more complex and competitive. Read full article here
Merv
March 29, 2023
