Spotify shares jumped 8% on Friday (April 23) following an analyst’s buy rating at a $360 price target — a 26.7% premium over the $284.11 closing price.

Ahead of Spotify releases first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Jeffries analyst Andrew Uerkwitz predicted the streaming giant would become “the primary audio platform for creators” and has “substantial” long-term opportunity in his initial report on the company.

This vote of confidence helps buttress Spotify’s share price, which has lost 26.7% since hitting $387.44 on Feb. 22, valuing the company at $73 billion. That fall was perhaps a sign that investors were too enthusiastic about exclusive podcast deals and that spoken word will help improve Spotify’s margins.

Analysts tend to agree that Spotify is the leader in the streaming market, a sentiment CEO Daniel Ek communicated during Spotify’s Feb. 3rd earnings call, calling the shift from linear (one-way) to on-demand (interactive) music a “massive multi-billion user opportunity” accelerated by COVID-19 and that was reachable by “only a handful of companies” in audio.

Spotify’s first-quarter numbers probably won’t disappoint, although they might not impress, either. Universal Music Group’s first-quarter streaming revenues — of which Spotify is the largest contributor — were 1.9% lower than the previous quarter, its parent company Vivendi revealed in its earnings release Thursday. That’s no cause for concern given Universal’s streaming business shrank by the same amount a year earlier.

Spotify certainly isn’t predicting big numbers: Its first-quarter guidance is 1.99 billion euros to 2.19 billion euros of revenue — a modest range compared to €2.17 billion of revenue it posted in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The company also expects to have 155 million to 158 million subscribers after finishing 2020 with 155 million, and 354 million to 364 million monthly average listeners compared to 345 million to close out 2020.

After 16 episodes and even more memorable moments, season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race came to a close Friday night (April 23), and one of the top four queens — Gottmik, Kandy Muse, Rosé and Symone — got to claim the crown and the $100,000 cash prize. Spoilers ahead!

After a “lip sync for the crown” battle royale, Symone was crowned the winner of season 13, and America’s next drag superstar. Symone became a front-runner early on in the competition by taking home two challenge wins at the start of the season. Despite lip-syncing three times, Symone proved to be a fierce competitor, taking home a whopping four wins in one season.

The crowning came after a high-octane “lip sync smackdown,” as RuPaul put it, where the top four fought it out to the tune of three Britney Spears tracks. In the first round, Kandy Muse managed to knock out Rosé with her energetic lip sync to “Work Bitch,” while Symone overcame Gottmik in a lip sync to “Gimme More.” In the final showdown, Symone and Kandy duked it out to “Till the World Ends,” with Symone ultimately emerging victorious.

Wearing a sparkling yellow fringe dress with streamers emerging from the top of her massive updo, Symone tearfully accepted the crown and scepter from season 12 winner Jaida Essence Hall. Calling back to her entrance line on the season, Symone kept her remarks sweet and simple: “I told y’all not to let the smooth taste fool you!”

The Small Business Administration will reopen the application portal for the Shuttered Venue Operator Grants program this Saturday, the organization announced on Thursday (April 22). The portal has been down since April 8 when it failed to launch.

News of the Saturday date dew criticism from struggling venue owners over the short notice given and since local government, lawyers, accountants needed for the complex applications will likely not be available on the weekend.

“We have completed rigorous testing and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal will reopen on April 24,” the SBA  announced on Twitter at 9 p.m. EST on Thursday. “We will provide updated documents and guidance tomorrow. Interested applicants should register for an account in advance.”

The link to the portal is svograntportal.sba.gov.

Since the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant was passed in late December, the SBA has been tasked with creating the program and processes from scratch. Andrea Roebker, a regional communications director at the SBA, told Billboard in March that while the SBA was able to distribute Paycheck Protection Program loans soon after the CARES Act passed in March 2020, those were handled by delegated bankers, and the venue grants program is a “different animal,” noting that this is the first time the department has created a grant process focused on for-profit entities.

While the news is likely a relief for struggling venue owners who have waited nearly four months for access to $15 billion in federal funding, the fact that the SBA was relaunching the application process on a Saturday did not go over well on Twitter.

Megan Thee Stallion announced a temporary musical hiatus on Thursday (April 22), letting fans know that Thee Hot Girl is taking a hot minute to unplug and recharge.

The “Savage” rapper posted two sci-fi photos of herself on Instagram, where she’s wearing a chrome-plated respirator while submerged in an aquatic tank. Although the newspaper-printed bodysuit fits with her Good News album aesthetic, fans think the “What’s New” artist is ready to enter a new era of her career — she’s just taking some time off first.

The Grammy-winning rapper shared an animated video of a lab where a computerized message for the Hotties fanbase appeared, which reads: “Megan Thee Stallion is recharging! Due to the demands of the Hot Girl lifestyle <Meg> has now entered a period of regeneration to prepare for what’s next. ….In her absence; mgmt will manage all social posting on behalf of Thee Hot Girl Coach. [[Thee Hotties]] lead a brave //RESISTANCE in anticipation for the return of their Fearless Captain!”

Chloe Bailey of Chloe x Halle, Syd, Karlae and more applauded Meg on how she went public with her decision to take a much-needed break. In 2020 alone, the breakout rapper earned her first and second No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with her Houston hometown hero Beyoncé (“Savage” remix) and Cardi B (“WAP”); championed Black women and fought for their support after she was shot in an incident with Tory Lanez; released her debut album Good News; and made it on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

The 26-year-old artist will need the “period of regeneration” before music festival season, when she’s scheduled to perform at Rolling Loud Miami and Afro Nation Portugal in July as well as Bonnaroo and Parklike (the latter of which she’s one of the headliners alongside Disclosure and Dave) in September.

She reassured her fans once more of the temporary status of her break on Twitter, saying, “I’ll be back when it’s time.”

See Meg’s announcement below.

Duki’s writing process is simple. “I only need a microphone,” the Argentine rapper says. “I start improvising and from then I just start building. But I’m writing in my head as I freestyle.”

A self-described melómano (music lover) who grew up listening to Luis Miguel and The Beatles, the 24-year-old artist, who last year scored a Latin Grammy nod for “Hablamos Mañana” with Bad Bunny and Pablo Chill-E, started his career freestyling on the streets of Argentina, which would eventually lead him to be a standout in the country’s rap competition El Quinto Escalón. It was then that he knew he could make a living out of music.

“I was around 17 years old when I realized that it was my way of connecting to the world. And that music is what I’ve loved most. I found a space where I wanted to thrive in.”

In 2016, he released his first single “No Vendo Trap,” which, like most of his videos on YouTube, raked in millions of views. Subsequently, he released “She Don’t Give a Fo” and “Hello Cotto.” But it was his feature on Khea’s “Loca Remix” with Bunny and Cazzu that earned his his first entry on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs. It peaked at No. 45 on the chart dated June 23. To date, his catalog has earned nearly 50 million on-demand U.S. audio streams.

“I’m not the type to be looking at charts,” says Duki, who says he’ll collaborate with artists whose craft he admires. “But if it happens, it’s always a nice thing. What really motivates me is what a song can do for me or someone else. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve shown something different in a song that my fans appreciated. What’s important is to know that someone liked, understood and supported one of my tracks.”

While he doesn’t have a recording deal, his booking manager is Federico Lauría, who has guided the artist after meeting him 2017 and has led him to headline Buenos Aires Trap festival with Bad Bunny and perform a sold-out show at Luna Park, one of Argentina’s most prominent venues.

“Duki was a phenomenon out on the streets and instantly we knew we wanted to work with him,” Lauría previously told Billboard. “He’s the biggest Argentine trap exponent.”

On Thursday (April 22), Duki released his new album Desde El Fin Del Mundo featuring collaborations with Khea, Farina and YSY A. “The biggest difference in this album is that I’m more mature and more professional,” he says. “But I feel happy with the end result. You can stream his new album here.

Learn more about this week’s Latin Artist on the Rise below:

Name: Mauro Ezequiel Lombardo

Age: 24

Major Accomplishment: “To have been able to make something out of the tools my parents gave me. And now, I can give back and support them. I’ve achieved all of them because of their support.”

Recommended Song: “‘Piensa En Mí,’ which is not even one of my songs it’s Sticky M.A.’s and I’m featured on it but I love that song. It’s completely different from my early repertoire. And I love the lyrics and the message behind it.”

What’s Next: “I’m going to keep recording more music but this time I’m going to do more reggaetón and dancehall tracks, just more danceable music.”