SoundCloud refreshes its creator suite

SoundCloud is looking to improve its creator offerings. In the first phase of "SoundCloud for Artists," there's a new creator dashboard where you can see your stats at a glance. One of the newest things is seeing your top fans. Soon the app can show you your top contributors and give you the option to connect with these superfans better.

“We can actually go back to that concept of you don’t need scale. You need to focus on your 1,000 [or] 100 true fans,” says Tracy Chan, SoundCloud's creator division lead. Last year, SoundCloud introduced a new system for allocating royalties. A listener's subscription revenue was divided among the artists they listen to, a move different from the standard pro rata model at Spotify and Apple. The big streaming services' subscription fees are pooled and allocated to artists based on the largest amount of streams.

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Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup – 10/9 – 10/15

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is now official, with 5G versionRoller coaster rides in the US trigger the iPhone 14's crash detection 

Jony Ive is a producer of an Apple TV+ animated film

Bumble brings 'Ted Lasso' dating app to life

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience to debut in Toronto in December

Mastercard, Pier Five partner for small business fund

Dyson Link is now the MyDyson app

TikTok gets a Photo Mode to rival Instagram 

Netflix Canada's ad-supported tier costs $5.99 per month

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 gets an incremental update

Google Meet update can automatically frame your video

Microsoft refreshes its Surface Studio after 4 years 

Google labels ads in mobile search results as 'Sponsored'

Google labels ads in mobile search results as 'Sponsored'

Source: Google

Google is changing how paid search results show up on mobile. These will now carry a larger "Sponsored" tag instead of a simple "Ad" tag. The website name is listed at the top of each search result too. The "size and shape" of each site's favicons are also getting updated, so they're easier to see. Google plans to test a "similar experience" on the desktop "soon."

The change is implemented because Google wanted to ensure "ads are clearly labeled" with a tag that's "prominent and clear across different types of paid content." While the more prominent position of site names and favicons should make it easier to "identify the website that's associated with each result at a glance."

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Microsoft refreshes its Surface Studio after 4 years

Source: Microsoft

It's been four years since the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 came out, and while we weren't expecting a Microsoft Surface Studio refresh, we got one. The Microsoft Surface Studio 2 Plus gets an Intel Core i7-11370H processor, the mobile version of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, three USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1.

According to Microsoft, it gets enhanced mics and a camera, too. But that's mostly processing improvements made in Windows 11. It has a 28-inch, pressure-sensitive 3:2 aspect ratio display (resolution between 4K and 5K) and a smart hinge design. The Microsoft Surface Studio 2 Plus will start shipping on October 25, with a starting price of $5,960.

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