In the world of media and culture, the word “digital” is synonymous with revolution, even “disruption”. The advent of so-called peer-to-peer technologies such as the Internet has turned content consumption models upside down. This has had a significant impact on our cultural industries. But above all, the new digital technologies have democratized access to the means of production.
Posted yesterday at 12:00 p.m.
For example, recording an album cost $1,000 a day in the studio 45 years ago. Today, an artist can buy $15,000 worth of equipment to produce professional sound, using old-fashioned analog component simulators that cost $250,000 each in the 1980s.
It is among other things thanks to the affordability of production tools that artists have gradually become “self-producers”, financing their musical projects from their savings; with financial support from family and friends.
And today, artist-entrepreneurs have become the majority in our landscape of Quebec production.
Auto-products between two chairs
In 1995, the year of creation of the Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises (SODEC), it was the golden age of the record. Record companies were unavoidable. Self-production, almost absent. And the Napster platform would be born four years later.
Now, 27 years after the creation of SODEC, production has been totally democratized, distribution is more than ever within everyone’s reach and the techniques for marketing music are no longer the prerogative of record companies.
Beyond talent and sound quality, money is needed to break through. Resources are needed to hire promotion strategists; to buy “media placement” so that its content gets the attention it deserves from a scattered audience. And most of the time, our local market will not provide enough income to cover expenses; therefore, financial assistance will be needed to make ends meet.
And that’s where SODEC comes in.
However, to benefit from SODEC, one must be a “cultural enterprise” according to criteria that immediately exclude artist-entrepreneurs.
While grants for creators are provided by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (the CALQ).
But where the shoe pinches is that the incorporated artist-entrepreneur is currently neither eligible for SODEC nor for the CALQ. Self-produced artists, now in the majority, fall flat between two chairs. Between CALQ and SODEC.
A vicious circle maintained and maintained by SODEC
Therefore, artists who self-produce do not have access to marketing subsidies. To promote their products, they are therefore systematically channeled to a producer recognized by SODEC. And because of this, they often have to give way to precious copyrights…
This situation, which surprises and shocks more than one in the cultural milieu, has been denounced for several years. More recently, groups of artists have stepped up to demand greater fairness in the allocation of SODEC funds.
A listening ex-minister
Having heard the recent discontent of self-producers, former minister Nathalie Roy asked SODEC to find a solution. The latter entrusted the firm Nordicity with the task of conducting a study, the results of which will soon be revealed. Thus, SODEC will finally be able to rearrange its programs and give more space to artist-entrepreneurs.
This is a start.
But, well beyond the cosmetic changes that SODEC is preparing to make in its programs, it is in its very foundations that the real problem lies. Because its founding law requires it to create and maintain sectoral commissions. These must be consulted regarding the content of its programs and their eligibility criteria. The people who participate in these commissions are appointed by SODEC; they are also beneficiaries of its subsidies.
Yes… Surprisingly, SODEC programs are designed by and for its own beneficiaries. Surprised ? This is a perfect recipe for setting the table for persistent conflicts of interest.
The conflict of interest is therefore systemic at SODEC; enshrined in its constitution. Created and maintained by the institution itself.
As I write these lines, we still do not know who will be the Minister of Culture and Communications who will oversee SODEC. But one thing is certain, it becomes critical that this person immediately corrects the SODEC Act. So that the sectoral commissions are made up of a majority of luminaries from the business community, the academic world, innovation, technology, sociology, education, cultural diversity and sound governance. Rather than its own beneficiaries…
Thus, we would improve the current situation where a few industrial kings of the mountain determine with impunity rules that favor them, first and foremost. This is to the detriment of new players, innovative models and our cultural diversity.