Mike Ward and the Union des artistes (UDA) have been at loggerheads for several months. The organization is trying to force the comedian to pay the guests of his very popular podcast under listening according to union standards. In the entourage of the star, it is difficult to explain why under listening is targeted by the UDA, while the guests are already receiving compensation, a rare thing in the podcasting community in Quebec.
Since the advent of under listening in 2015, Mike Ward became the undisputed master of the genre, even going so far as to fill the Bell Center last summer for the recording of one of the episodes. But in the early years, when podcasting was still in its infancy in Quebec, under listening was not profitable. Guests were not paid. It’s only been four years since they’ve been paid for the recording, thanks to revenue from sponsors and subscribers.
The manager of the comedian, Michel Grenier, maintains that this small amount, which is the same for all the artists that Mike Ward interviews, is not so far in everything and everywhere from a stamp of the UDA. If Mike Ward is so reluctant to comply with the standards of the Union des artistes, it is not for a question of money, we insist.
“It’s not so much a cost issue as a workload issue. It can become very cumbersome, managing UDA contracts, ”suggests Michel Grenier, who specifies that negotiations are currently underway with the Union to find an arrangement.
For a better social safety net
Thanks to the news Act on the status of the artist, the UDA has new levers to impose its minimum conditions on podcasts, a genre that has experienced a meteoric rise during the pandemic. Since last year, all podcast producers who receive a notice to bargain have been forced to sit at the same table as the Union des artistes.
The union, which represents more than 13,000 artists in Quebec, reports that 17 podcast producers have joined its most recent framework agreement concluded for the sound production sector. Under this, the Union des artistes levies a union dues of 2.5% on the salaries of its members, and extracts another 2% for the Caisse des artistes. This collective agreement also forces podcast producers to fund certain benefits for artists. A contribution that amounts to 15% of the fees they pay to artists.
All of these deductions currently escape the UDA with under listening. “The contracts under the authority of the UDA are to the advantage of the artists so that they can have a better social safety net. It allows them to improve their RRSP, to have insurance… They are self-employed workers who accumulate small contracts, so it is important that they are entitled to these protections, ”we say on the side of the union, avoiding careful to comment directly on the case of Mike Ward.
UDA standards apply to Radio-Canada. Thus, an artist who is invited on the airwaves of ICI Première, or who participates in a podcast produced by the public broadcaster, receives a fee. However, this is not the case for private radio, which completely escapes provincial legislation on the status of the artist and is only subject to federal authority. An artist who gives an interview to a private station is therefore not necessarily paid in return. An incongruity, according to the manager of Mike Ward.
“Why attack us, when we already pay our guests, even if we are not subsidized? Meanwhile, the big players in private radio, who have much more means, do not even pay the artists themselves”, illustrates Michel Grenier, who says he has never heard of a complaint addressed to the UDA aimed at under listening.
The exception among podcasts
Michel Grenier is leading negotiations with the UDA, which have been dragging on for several months. Mike Ward is not taking part. But two weeks ago, when he was a podcast guest What’s up of comedian Jerr Allain, he confirmed having trouble with the Union. Jerr Allain added that his podcast could not survive if he had to pay his guest members of the Union des artistes.
Joined by The dutyPH Cantin, who co-hosts the podcast Without filterabounds in this direction. Without filter in spite of benefiting from significant visibility, it does not prevent that the project is not profitable. Paying guest artists would sound the death knell for the podcast, which is not subsidized, recalls PH Cantin. “We never had a complaint because we don’t pay. We don’t only receive artists, but those who come are very happy to come. It’s great visibility for them,” he says.
PH Cantin is also one of the producers of oral sex, one of the most listened to podcasts in Quebec. Like under listening with Mike Ward, oral sex now generates income that allows it to be profitable. The artists who agree to come and pour out their sex life are however not paid in return, not even compensated. However, the producers of this podcast have not received a notice to bargain from the UDA.