About Guillaume Déziel

French version

Guillaume Déziel adores cultivating relationships with major decision makers in the music industry. Since obtaining his music diploma in 1994, he has carved out a niche in the realms of music recording, business law, entrepreneurship, management and publishing.

Guillaume has worked in different jobs as an audio technician, notably for TVA (Quebecor Media) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s French radio. This short stint in the “container” world brought him to jump the fence to the « content » side, while he assured press relations and artist promotions by student medias at Audiogram, in 1999-2000. Subsequently, Guillaume founded his own company by handling PR between labels and student medias. During this period, he was also the manager for Tomas Jensen.

But as life sometimes throws unexpected surprises one’s way, Eworldmusic invited Guillaume to enter into the unlikely realm of Internet and music in 2002. He has since collaborated on various projects, including the establishment of the “Corrida.ca Contest” and the online discovery site for new albums, “Postedecoute.ca”. It is thus how he deepened the domain of interactive marketing in music ⎯ by working with 171 Quebec labels and distributors such as Distribution Select, Distribution Exclusive DEP, Distribution Fusion III and LOCAL Distribution, as well as with Internet Service Providers (ISP) such as Bell Canada Sympatico / MSN, Telus and Videotron.

He has also worked as Director of Business Development, Acquisition and Content Distribution in the French market for Bell Mobility from 2006 to 2007. Rich with this experience, Guillaume shares his highly specialized knowledge with his peers in the music industry.

On the social implication side, between 2004 and 2009, Guillaume chaired on the “Creation Etc.” administration board, the organization behind the “Vue sur la Relève” festival. He has also chaired on the Administrative Board of SOPREF (today included in SPACQ). He sometimes judges on Musicaction’s artistic selection committee, at the finals of the competition “Ma Première Place des Arts”, as well as “Cegep en Spectacle”. Guillaume adores being at the forefront of the upcoming music generation… as much as Interactive Marketing speaker at “École du Showbusiness” and at “Musitechnic” school, as judging in various festival contests. Guillaume has also taught a course in the business of the music industry at Recording Arts Canada (RAC).

Guillaume is without doubt the biggest defender of free music in Quebec. In his eyes, free music helps establish the branding of the artist and consequently helps sell the artist’s products. For him, recorded music is a loss leader to sell other products or services on which there exists a real means of control. Morever, the successful results speak for themselves in marketing the group “Misteur Valaire”.

Today Guillaume is exploring new ways of marketing music.  If you bump into him during one of the ADISQ, RIDEAU, SXSW or MIDEM conventions, don’t hesitate to say “Hello”!

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Since 2010, he has been actively engaged in major discussions surrounding the digital transformations. As a member of the musiQCnumeriQC think tank, he was one of the 12 co-authors of a report titled « Musique Digital Shift in Quebec – Recommendations in 6 Themes. » Guillaume Déziel has been frequently invited to various forums, workshops, and roundtable discussions, both organized by SODEC and CALQ. At the request of the former Quebec Minister of Culture, Communications, and Women’s Condition, Ms. Christine St-Pierre, he presented reflections and project ideas to her cabinet, providing valuable insights for navigating the digital shift in culture. Despite the changing political landscape, the Ministry continued to invite him to collaborate.

It’s essential to note that despite his involvement in politics, Guillaume Déziel remains apolitical. If he were to be a lobbyist, he would be a « Culture lobbyist, » nothing more. His numerous mobilizations and open letters attest to this.

Since 2004, he has researched, analyzed, and actively participated in idea exchanges aimed at riding the wave (to say the least, « the tsunami ») of the digital era. He is intrigued by technological changes while remaining attuned to the disruptions in media and cultural industries. Guillaume has been invited as a speaker, blogger, and columnist on numerous occasions to address current digital issues. Additionally, he taught « Web Updating » (big data, metadata, discoverability, ubiquity, accessibility) and « Music Publishing » at Musitechnic school for seven years. Although not legally trained, he is well-versed in digital copyright issues. Guillaume Déziel believes in ensuring both free access to digital works and fair monetization. For him, culture is not a commodity; it is the greatest wealth of a people when it remains discoverable and accessible.

In 2016, he began a self-taught study of blockchain technology and its various disruptive applications. He even conducted a workshop on blockchain at the Forum des Innovations Culturelles in April 2017.

With expertise gained in business governance and finance through various administrative roles, he has recently taken an interest in blockchain-based financing activities through tokenization. This dynamic field, bridging equity and currency speculation, is fascinating and presents an opportunity to irreversibly change traditional ways of doing things. In this regard, he collaborated as an author on the Digital and Strategic Watch for the Canada Media Fund, covering topics related to Web3.

More recently, he founded cryptocoach.me, a microsite aimed at helping people navigate the exciting and highly disruptive world of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin at the forefront.