Rick Levy has been named CEO of Paladin Artists, which is also currently in advanced discussions to acquire Entourage Talent Associates, the New York-based boutique agency started by Wayne Forte, it was announced on Monday (May 4).

Over his 25 years of senior leadership experience, Levy has served as founding partner, COO and general counsel of ICM Partners. He was later interim CEO of Just for Laughs and remains a partner in London-based agency Primary Talent International.

Launched in 2021 by longtime agents Steve Martin and Andy Somers (later joined by Bruce Solar), Paladin Artists was founded in partnership with Entourage, along with Karrie Goldberg‘s The Kagency. Now, Entourage — founded in 1992 and focused around artists in the rock, blues and progressive music genres — is primed to become part of Paladin, where Forte has served on the board since the agency’s inception. Over his long career, Forte (currently president of the National Independent Talent Organization, or NITO) has represented and developed artists including David Bowie, The Cure, The Clash and Joan Armatrading.

“Paladin and Entourage have built a strong informal working relationship over the years, grounded in a shared commitment to artist-first representation,” said Forte in a statement. “When we formally bring our two businesses together, we will be positioned to expand resources for our clients while preserving the independence and personal service that define both organizations. I am confident it will be the first of many impactful combinations for Paladin.”

In a statement on his hire, Levy said: “What attracted me to Paladin was not the size of the company, but the size of the opportunity. Our edge is our ability to be nimble in the face of rapid changes in the ecosystem in which we operate. With an exceptional foundation, respected roster, and artist-centric culture already in place, I’m excited to lead the next phase of strategic growth to build the leading independent booking and live entertainment company in the business.”

“Rick’s experience building and scaling agency businesses make him ideally suited to help us guide Paladin through its next chapter,” added Somers and Martin in a joint statement. “We are thrilled that he has chosen to join our team. We look forward to creating new opportunities for our clients.”

Added Solar, “This is about expanding our capabilities to build for the future, strengthening our leadership team and creating an environment where ambitious agents and our clients can grow and thrive.”

Since opening in April of 2025, Just in Time — the new musical looking at the life and loves of legendary crooner Bobby Darin — has become a Broadway hit, attracting passionate repeat audiences at least in part thanks to the Tony-nominated, powerhouse performance of its original leading man, Jonathan Groff.

But since Groff’s departure from the role of Darin on March 29, enthusiasm for Just In Time has not flagged — and has evolved along with its cast. A new, extremely-beloved Broadway regular has stepped into Darin’s form-fitting suits: Jeremy Jordan, most recently Tony-nominated for playing the title role in Floyd Collins, started as Bobby on April 21. And shortly before, The Pitt‘s Isa Briones (herself no stranger to Broadway, having done a stint as Eurydice in Hadestown) took over the role of Connie Francis (originated by Lawrence’s Gracie Lawrence), Darin’s one-time collaborator and romantic interest.

The audience response to Jordan and Briones has been overwhelming — and in kind, Just In Time will release today on Atlantic Records four brand new singles showcasing the two stars: their duet “First Real Love,” Jordan on “Dream Lover” and “Mack the Knife,” and Briones on “Who’s Sorry Now.”

Briones and Jordan had never met before being cast, but say they’re continuously enjoying developing Bobby and Connie’s onstage chemistry. “Jeremy is such a fun person to act with,” says Briones. “He’s always playing and trying new things — it keeps you on yoru toes and means you can get gems out of the most unexpected moments.” Jordan says that while the two are still “figuring out our show and our chemistry,” he loves “never 100% solidifying the choices, so it always feels fresh, there’s always room for discovery, and Isa’s really leaning into that with me — which I thank her greatly for, because it’s my favorite way to perform. She has great charisma, a great voice, and the second she walks onstage we lock eyes and we’re in.”

A video of Briones singing “Who’s Sorry Now” recently went viral, generating 9 million views across platforms. Seeing how that performance was received, along with clips of the other tracks, on social media inspired these single releases — even though its original cast recording has already been released (Just In Time‘s was Grammy-nominated).

“It was so exciting to see how well it was received,” says Briones, “and I think it just made sense to release them as full tracks. As a fan of theater, one of my favorite things is when I get to experience new actors and singers in shows I love … I’m so happy to be part of that experience for fans of this show.” Adds Jordan, “It’s kinda cool that at least a few of these songs will be immortalized on streaming.”

Among the tracks, Briones calls out “First Real Love” as particularly meaningful, as the recording occurred before she and Jordan even started performing together onstage. “It was the first time I really got to hear how we sound together, and I think our voices blend so well,” she says. “It was also a pinch-me moment for the musical theater nerd in me, the teen who used to fangirl over Jeremy.” For his part, Jordan says that the first time he heard Briones sing her part of the song, “I was on the floor.”

Jordan also recorded an iconic Darin track, “Mack the Knife,” very early in the rehearsal process — right after he learned it. “Me doing this recording was very exploratory and actually really helped me find some of the choices I ended up using in the show,” he says. “It forced me to look ahead and think about how bold I can make it.”

Billboard exclusively previews all four tracks before their May 4 release here.

AI music company Suno is in the midst of a series D funding round, sources familiar with the raise tell Billboard. The news follows six months after Suno’s Series C round, which resulted in a $250 million raise, led by Menlo Ventures, bringing the AI music company’s valuation to $2.45 billion.

This round is expected to close in the coming weeks and will likely raise above the $250 million mark, as it is typical for funding rounds to continue to mount greater sums if the startup has continued to grow. According to a source familiar with the matter, multiple music industry investors are involved in the ongoing Series D round, and music industry investors have been putting money into each of Suno’s rounds, although most of them ultimately keep their support of the still-controversial AI music firm private. One notable exception to this is Hallwood Media, started by record executive Neil Jacobson, which made headlines last year by signing the first known record deals for talent who create music largely using Suno.

Little is known about how Suno plans to spend its money from the Series D round, but a look back at the investor materials for its Series C round, which Billboard obtained in the fall, noted that the company’s biggest expense since January 2024 was compute power — the hardware, processors, memory, storage and energy that operate data centers — which is expected for AI firms, looking to scale fast with the nascent and capital-intensive technology.

A pitch deck for the Series C round also revealed that the round would be allocated to 30% computing power; 20% mergers and acquisitions; 20% discovery; 20% marketing; 15% data; and 5% partnerships.

Since the Series C round was announced on Nov. 19, 2025, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group separately announced licensing deals and settlements with then-Suno competitor Udio, and as part of UMG’s particular agreement with Udio, the rival AI platform would pivot its business away from creating new AI-generated songs from simple text prompts, like Suno does, to being an AI-powered remixing platform for existing music.

Around that same time, Suno announced a licensing deal and settlement with WMG, which included the acquisition of SongKick and the promise that it would limit user downloads of AI-generated songs and relaunch a model trained on licensed works in 2026. (This effectively ended WMG’s participation in the $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Universal Music Group, Sony Music and WMG in June 2024, which alleged that Suno trained on copyrighted sound recordings illegally. Sony and Universal are still pursuing that lawsuit.)

In January and February, it became increasingly clear that UMG and Suno did not see eye-to-eye on the future of AI music, and it was unlikely that their legal battle would resolve quickly. In a January episode of Billboard’s On the Record podcast, UMG chief digital officer and executive vp, Michael Nash, said that Suno’s disinterest in making its service into a so-called “walled garden,” where no songs can exit their own platform to be uploaded to streaming services, is a reason why their part of the lawsuit is still ongoing. “That’s kind of a hat-hanger in this discussion,” Nash said on the podcast.

Just days after Nash’s interview aired, Suno’s chief music officer Paul Sinclair took to LinkedIn to write a lengthy post called “Open Studios, Not Walled Gardens,” writing, “for [this] promise [of AI-led music innovation] to be real, these tools can’t just be toys inside a box.”

Most recently, a new Luminate survey found that U.S. consumer interest in listening to AI-assisted music declined across all age groups from when they were first surveyed in May 2025 to November 2025. Still, Suno recently became the No. 1 music app in the Apple app store and peaked at No. 22 across all categories, showing signs of its continued growth.

“Bring Your Love,” Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter‘s new song release, tops this week’s best new music poll.

Listeners voted in a poll published Friday (May 1) on Billboard, choosing the pop star team-up as their favorite music release this week.

“Bring Your Love” rose to the top in a week that also delivered new music from Zara Larsson, Kacey Musgraves and Bella Poarch, plus the new soundtrack accompanying the box office hit The Devil Wears Prada 2. At the poll’s closing time on Sunday, Madonna and Sabrina had amassed an overwhelming 88.99% of the vote.

Interestingly, there was a Madonna and Devil Wears Prada crossover over the weekend in movie theaters, where a teaser for Madonna’s upcoming Confessions II album played ahead of the film. The promo spot featured Madonna and Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, who’s ready to hear the confessions to come on July 3.

But first, it’s time for “Bring Your Love” to shine. The Madonna x Sabrina duet is meant for the dancefloor, or at least meant to put your mind in that transcendent space.

The pair debuted the single in Madonna’s surprise guest appearance during Carpenter’s recent Coachella set, then officially unleashed the studio version of the song on Friday. With it came a vibrant visualizer that puts the lyrics of “Bring Your Love” front and center, in bold text. On the track’s verses, the two artists make declarations like “Don’t comment on my ideas/ I don’t want your judgment or your expectations” and “Don’t rely on my moral compass/ Or my discretion, I have a confession.”

The chorus: “Bring your love ’cause you cannot shake me/ Bring your love ’cause you’ll never break me/ Bring your love ’cause you cannot take me down.”

Madonna co-produced “Bring Your Love” with longtime collaborator Stuart Price, who worked with her on 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor and has maintained the musical director position on several of the star’s tours.

Among the new releases trailing behind “Bring Your Love” on the poll this week are Bella Poarch’s “Ribcage,” Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun: Girls Trip album, Kacey Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere album and the soundtrack for The Devil Wears Prada 2; the sequel to the original 2006 film leads the box office this weekend, opening with $77 million in North America and $156.6 million overseas, for a global total of $233.6 million.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.