What’s with the Academy’s beef with popular movies?

Who will win Barbenheimer clash at Oscars? Here’s what history shows.India's chip ambitions are about to get larger Disney merger in sight, Viacom18 rejigs top rolesSpotify bets on independent music to bolster presence in IndiaNexCAR 19 cancer therapy: Conceived at IIT Bombay, delivered in Tata MemorialWelcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, March 11, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:The big day for cinephiles is finally here. As you are listening to this podcast, The 96th Academy Awards are being announced at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. The apex awards for the global movie industry have for long raised eyebrows with their nomination choices. Often the Academy’s picks go against the popular box office trends of the year. Take 2023’s highest grossing film Barbie for example: it received 9 nominations, but missed out on some key categories. The Greta Gerwig directorial venture was snubbed in major categories including direction and leading actress. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, on the other hand, which clashed with Barbie in an epic showdown at the box office, received 13 nominations. Mint’s Shuja Asrar breaks down the data on the Academy’s past picks and how they performed in the theatres. For the Oscars, popular doesn't always equate to being the best. This year doesn’t seem like it’ll be any different.It’s the era of semiconductors. It is difficult to imagine the world without these tiny silicon chips, and India is bullish on its prospects. In an interview with Mint’s senior assistant editor Gulveen Aulakh, union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke about the government’s plan to boost chip sector incentives. Currently, these incentives add up to about 76,000 crore rupees. Thanks to a n increase in incentives, we can expect a boom in the number of chip fabs and testing units across the country. This interview comes as just last week the union government approved three chip sector projects with expected investments of 1.26 trillion rupees, with two of them being won by Tata. The minister expects dozens of such units to be up and running in the next five years. As the mega-merger between media giants Reliance and Disney is inching closer, preparations are underway on both sides. In one such move, Reliance-owned Viacom18 is planning to rejig its organisational structure to streamline the business. Senior executives at the company spoke to Mint’s senior editor Gaurav Laghate about the upcoming change. As per the planned restructuring Kiran Mani, who was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of JioCinema in November last year, has now been tasked with overseeing both the digital and sports divisions. Meanwhile, the entire content division will be managed by Kevin Vaz, who assumed the role of CEO for Broadcast in July of the last year. Read Gaurav’s insightful piece to find out how Reliance is reshuffling its ranks to hit the ground running.There is a good chance that you’re listening to this podcast on Spotify, which is also at the centre of this story. Don’t worry, this isn’t another spotify ad! In a move to bolster its presence in India, the audio streaming platform is ready to bet big on independent artists. The indie music scene in India is growing at a faster pace than film music consumption, which accounts for 70 to 90 per cent of music streaming on the platform in India. In an interview with Mint’s entertainment correspondent Lata Jha, Spotify India’s managing director Amarjit Singh Batra said that the platform would like to see an equal balance of film and indie music. The Swedish-audio streaming platform has also invested in ‘Spotify for Artists’ an initiative which involves working with independent artists by sharing streaming data and consumption habits with them. The significance of this shift in strategy towards independent music is evidenced in the fact that the most streamed song from 2023 was a song by King, who is an independent artist. Batra highlighted that consumption patterns differ significantly among various languages. For instance, in Punjabi music, non-film tracks dominate, making up 90 per cent of the total consumption. In contrast, in languages such as Hindi, Tamil, or Telugu, where film music plays a more prominent role, the share of movie tracks in total music consumption ranges from 70 to 80 per cent. This next story is about a potentially groundbreaking therapy for cancer patients. It starts with a 60-year-old woman named Sheeba. Three years after discovering a growth on her tonsils, Sheeba was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer that attacks your lymph nodes. Traditional treatments, including naturopathy and chemotherapy, had failed her. But rather than giving in, Sheeba and her husband sought out CAR T-cell therapy, a cutting-edge procedure that modifies a patient's immune cells to combat cancer. This therapy, developed on a modest budget by a dedicated team at IIT Bombay, represents a beacon of hope, offering significant advancements in cancer treatment in India. Remarkably, Sheeba's cancer was arrested just 28 days following her treatment, showcasing the potential of this innovative approach. Despite the high cost and no insurance coverage, CAR T-cell therapy stands out as a crucial alternative for patients facing a dire prognoses. But it isn't the silver bullet for cancer yet. Mint’s Devina Sengupta takes a deep dive into the journey of this emerging weapon against cancer cells. Devina also examines why the new therapy, which can cost the patient up to 50 lakh rupees, still has a long way to go. We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance.That’s all for today. Thank you for listening.We'll be back tomorrow with a fresh episode of Top of the Morning. Have a nice day!