There are several podcasts about doctorates and academic research. The PhD gives a voice to students from the University of Sherbrooke. SHUT the podcast continues the work of Thésez-vous?, which supports graduate students in writing. Good in my thesis does the same thing in France. The offer is overflowing in English.
On the other hand, unless I am mistaken, no doctorate or master’s degree specifically on podcasting has been defended until now in a Quebec university. Prune Lieutier will remedy this lack. After a doctorate on digital children’s publishing obtained last year, she has just started a postdoctoral contract at HEC Montréal on the independent podcast industry in Quebec.
The postdoctoral position is supported by the Quebec Research Fund on Society and Culture. Data is sorely lacking to understand the national reality of this new and expanding media production. There are only rare statistics that are often incomplete, such as those on listening, which do not take younger audiences into account.
“The idea is to take stock of the situation to describe this industry, firstly,” explains M.me Lieutenant in interview. Secondly, I will try to identify the development issues in this world, particularly in terms of production and distribution. I will propose a map of the sector, understand who does what, according to what business model, and I will identify the challenges of this sector for financing or training, for example. My intuition tells me it’s all issues manifesting at once, but research will tell. I remain on the concerns of a creative industry by changing fields from children’s literature to podcasts. »
The flared ear
Mme Lieutier is all the more qualified to carry out this project as she herself devotes herself to the podcast with La Fleche à l’oreille, of which she is the co-founder and general director. The company, founded in 2018,’s mission is to develop podcasts for children and teenagers. She already has around 300 in her catalog!
Some creations are inspired by a work (an album, for example) or an existing activity (such as a visit to an exhibition). Others are created from scratch. The company also introduces children in schools to the creation of podcasts, including young immigrants in immersion classes.
The HQ is in Quebec, but cultural mediation continues beyond the borders, in Louisiana, Morocco, France or Belgium. A new interactive audio project aims to create games based on voice recognition in conjunction with six Quebec museums and the publisher QuébecAmérique.
La flea à l’oreille employs a handful of people and many freelancers, authors, directors, actors and technicians. The projects are financed one by one, with different partners, children’s publishers and TV broadcasters. The productions are broadcast free of charge and free of advertising, as required by the Consumer Protection Act.
The researcher adds that the podcast ecosystem remains difficult to define because of the multiplicity of models that are developing there. Some tiny players record their productions in their garage. Some specialized companies offer highly professional services. Still others are developing podcasts as additions to a bouquet of cultural offerings.
“It’s extremely eclectic and what’s missing today is funding to support research and experimentation,” says M.me Lieutier by repeating a refrain repeated by most of the professionals active in the sector interviewed for this series. “The lack of funding, except for one-off projects, limits risk-taking, experimentation and outreach. This is a field that has grown very quickly, especially during the pandemic, and which would benefit from being structured to be heard. »
The Cultural Enterprise Development Corporation (SODEC) paid $40,000 to La Fleche à l’oreille as part of its support program for innovative initiatives, one of the very few organizations to support this emerging industry. SODEC will organize three meetings with podcast representatives at the end of the month to better understand its needs.
“There are now conversations in the community about how to defend our interests and better promote them,” says Prune Lieutier. His company will organize a major international French-speaking meeting around youth podcasting in Paris in December.