Quebec on the move | The Quebec podcast has the wind in its sails

The Quebec podcast is doing well, thank you. This is the conclusion that emerges from three days of meetings and discussions between the major players in the field, gathered in Gatineau last weekend as part of the Digital Radio Festival. The Press was there too.

Just like the effervescence that reigns in the world of podcasts, it was swarming in the premises of the cultural center La Basoche du Vieux-Aylmer, last weekend.

At the invitation of the Festival, more than twenty creators met to discuss the major challenges of this young medium in full explosion. Around them gravitated hundreds of spectators. In total, more than 3,500 people came to attend the recordings of a dozen podcasts such as Open Torque, What are you enjoying?, Do you become what you wanted? Or Everyone hates each other. No less than 27 activities were presented during the three days of the festival.

“The environment is really boiling,” says Émile Gauthier, co-director of the podcast Distortion, which deals with weird and mysterious stories of the digital age. “Independent creators, of which we are a part, have never been so numerous. And the content has never been so diverse. The subjects are more and more specific: humor, sports, criminal investigations, feminist or politically engaged content…”

“The next generation is very strong, continues Émile Gauthier in the crowded café of the cultural center. Young designers are talented and versatile. They are digital natives who are not afraid of the technical aspect. In addition, the podcast is now taught in several schools. »

Admittedly, the technique can be taught, just like the art of the interview, the science of punch comedy or the tricks of screenwriting. What’s harder to learn in the classroom is the perseverance needed to take a podcast from a mere idea to a profitable project.

Because you have to be very passionate to embark on this kind of adventure, say all the speakers interviewed. Just talk to PH Caron-Cantin and Doum Plante about it. The latter recorded about fifty episodes of the podcast Without filter ” beside the toaster de la cuisine” before founding their recording studio, Studio SF.

Even Mike Ward had lean years before achieving the success we know: attracting 20,000 people to the Bell Center for the recording of under listening last July. “It took us seven years to be profitable,” says its impresario, Michel Grenier, during a plenary on the monetization of podcasts. “We recorded our first episodes in a living room, then in front of 30 people at the Brothel. »

Charles Thomson, who teaches podcast creation at the National School of Humor and at the Union des artistes, was also present at the festival. He compares the path to profitability to a marathon. “It takes energy and time. You really have to get involved! And a lot of people end up finding it hard to keep going on a recurring basis. »

Isn’t this where the gold diggers will make their fortune?

The number of listeners on the rise

This community of podcast listeners is growing, according to the specialists met during the event. However, there is a caveat here: listening statistics are often patchy, because some giants like Spotify refuse to disclose the figures for podcasts hosted on their platform.

Nevertheless. Julien Morissette, artistic director of Transistor Media, which organizes the Festival, believes that “the pandemic has brought an increase in the adoption of this form of medium”.

According to the Media Technology Observer, Radio-Canada OHdio is the third most important platform used by French speakers in the country to access podcast content. The first is Spotify.

Penetration is even greater among English Canadians. Research by Edison Research, in conjunction with Triton Digital, found that 58% of Canadians over the age of 18 had listened to a podcast in the past year. In the United States, that figure is 49%, according to the Pew Research Center. Growth has been constant since 2013 for our neighbors to the south.

At Radio-Canada, we have also seen meteoric growth since the launch of the OHdio platform in November 2019. Canada. It’s impressive when you think that not so long ago, many people didn’t know what the word podcast meant! »

A scent of the Wild West

In short, the medium is carving out an important place for itself in the daily lives of many, especially among 18-29 year olds, according to the Pew Research Center. But there is still a scent of the Wild West hanging over the whole environment. The rules of ethics are very random. Podcasts are born and die every day. The public does not always know where to find the material that interests them. And big broadcasters like Radio-Canada (OHdio) or Quebecor (with Qub) are wading in the same pond as small creators working in their basements.

“The environment needs to structure itself,” says Julien Morissette. This is why independent producers and creators laid the foundations of an association during a meeting held last Saturday in a hotel in Old Aylmer. “It’s important to be able to speak with one voice on certain issues or to defend our interests and our realities with broadcasters and international distribution platforms like Spotify or Amazon Music. »

Stéphane Berthomet, podcast producer and president of Productions go-script-média, agrees: “Podcasts are going well in Quebec, from all points of view. And our willingness to come together to keep moving forward is proof of that. It remains to be hoped that the big players like Spotify and company will invest in local production. The market is small in Quebec, we are limited in our ability to produce content. It would take us to another level. And find another audience. »

He concludes: “The traditional media also need to talk about it more so that readers are able to find us, to listen to us. »

Five podcasts to discover

Julien Morissette presents his favorites, heard during recent editions of the Digital Radio Festival.