This year’s annual RAIN summit took place a day before the NAB Radio Show in Nashville on Tuesday.
At the event, broadcast radio executives, internet radio entrepreneurs, sales executives and technology visionaries gathered for a full day of panels, presentations, talks by industry leaders and networking in the industry.
RAIN founder Kurt Hanson‘s opened the summit with a welcome speech outlining the changes in the digital audio space including streaming audio services and podcasts, the impact of unlimited data plans, and barriers to entry.
In a ‘Fireside Chat’ with RAIN’s Brad Hill, Eric Nuzum of Audible, a key player in on-demand audio, explained why his company avoids calling its shows “podcasts” and how podcasting has access to none of the demographic information needed to develop the business, which Audible can access via its subscription base.
Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein moderated a podcast panel which discussed audience measurement, the rise of brand advertising and predictions for the next year.
The panel expressed skepticism about some companies’ claims that they can pull demographic data from iTunes downloads.
Scott Borschetta of Big Machine Label Group- the top independent label in the world, discussed his strategy for breaking artists in the digital era in a keynote session with Rolling Stone’s Beville Dunkerley.
Borchetta asserted that “if people leave terrestrial radio, there’s a good chance they may not come back.”
Musicwatch’s Russ Crupnick said that playlists on streaming music services are the new radio in a presentation that asked radio to consider how to migrate the playlist concept to broadcast applications as they are contributing to listeners spending more time with the digital services and less with traditional radio.
Edison Research’s Nicole Beniamini presented a research on in-car audio and how radio should be worried as it faces tough competition in this space from digital competitors.
The sessions ended with another ‘Fireside Chat’ with Wideorbit’s Susie Hedrick talking with Nielsen’s Rob Kass on radio simulcasts over the internet.
The conference ended with the 7th Annual Internet Awards.
A panel of 15 unaffiliated judges shortlisted 18 finalists, after reviewing 44 brands from hundreds of submissions and chose six winners across categories. The winners include:
Best Single Stream Webcaster: Radio Paradise
Radio Paradise plays modern and classic rock, world music, electronica, even a bit of classical and jazz.
Best Streaming Broadcast Station: Entercom Ac Koit/San Francisco
The 96.5 KOIT content strategy is “FFFF”: Fido, Food, Family & Feel Good, targeting women 35-54.
Best Audio Startup: Otto Radio
Otto Radio works like Pandora for podcasts and news, using your interests and listening habits to find stories you’ll love.
Best Podcast: ESPN Audio, “Dunkumentaries”
Over the course of five podcast episodes, the program explores the stories and personalities connected to the most powerful shot in basketball.
Best Overall Digital Strategy: iHeartradio
iHeartRadio serves more than 85 million registered users, and has been downloaded more than a billion times.
Best Overall Online Radio Service: Spotify
The Spotify audience is global across 59 countries. Its owned and operated playlists are streamed over 1 billion times a week.