Publishing Briefs Roundup: BMG Buys Chris Cheney’s Catalog, The Ivors Academy and YouTube Music Launch Songwriting Camp

A new set of publishing announcements highlighted in Billboard’s “Publishing Briefs” column includes BMG acquiring Chris Cheney’s catalog, work connected to The Ivors Academy, and YouTube Music’s scheduling of a songwriting camp for creators. The column, published June 25, 2026, also points to additional signings and roster additions at several music publishing companies.

Billboard reports that BMG is the acquiring party in the Chris Cheney catalog deal referenced in its weekly roundup. Cheney is known publicly as a songwriter and performer associated with Australian rock, and the report is framed as a publishing catalog acquisition rather than a recording acquisition. Beyond that catalog-level description, Billboard’s roundup does not detail purchase terms in the material provided for this story.

In the same Publishing Briefs roundup, Billboard says The Ivors Academy and YouTube Music are connected to a songwriting camp concept, with the platform named as YouTube Music. The item is presented as programming tied to songwriting, positioning the camp within broader efforts by music institutions and major digital platforms to identify, train, and develop writers for commercial and audience-facing releases.

The column also notes signings at publishing entities including Liz Rose Music, Position Music, and Prescription Songs. In addition to the catalog acquisition and the songwriting camp programming, these roster items underscore a continuing pattern in music publishing where companies add writers and manage composition rights used across recordings, film and television licensing, and streaming distribution.

For industry observers, these moves reflect how rights ownership and writer development are being pursued in parallel. Publishing catalogs and songwriting programs both shape long-term supply for recorded-music projects, with catalog acquisitions concentrating existing works and writer platforms attempting to cultivate new ones. The specific impact on downstream licensing or release calendars was not provided in the material used here.

Billboard’s roundup is a short-form industry update, and the details provided in the briefing are limited. As with other publishing transactions and programming announcements, parties typically confirm deal structures, timing, and roster terms in separate statements or through industry reporting, and readers may need to look for later primary disclosures to confirm the full scope of each item.