Radio entrepreneur Kurt Hanson struck an optimistic tone, predicting a coming renaissance for the radio industry, during the RAIN Summit East seminar Sept. 24 at the Hard Rock Café in Philadelphia. Factoring in newer delivery methods, including Internet radio, Hanson said radio listening is higher than it has ever been.

Hanson, the publisher of the Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN) and founder/CEO of AccuRadio, hosted the half-day session in conjunction with the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show. It drew a standing room only crowd of more than 150 to hear several panels and product presentations, including those from new companies Jelli and Listener Driven Radio, as well as the performing rights organization Sound Exchange.

During his presentation, Sound Exchange executive director John Simson publicly called out one radio group. “Radio One has been completely non-compliant in providing us with [streaming audio] data,” he claimed, yet is running ads portraying Sound Exchange as ineffective in paying royalties to artists.

Sound Exchange collects and distributes digital royalties, and Simson spoke about the challenges his staff of 40 faces in trying to track down and pay some of the lesser-known or more obscure artists who may no longer be in the business. For example, he said, the former bass player for the group Strawberry Alarm Clock now works for a BMW dealership in California. Simson joked “if you started a band called ‘various artists,’ I have a big check for you.”

When the discussion at one panel turned to the future of mobile delivery methods for radio, Pandora’s Les Hollander pointed out that “mobile is happening now … 18-34 year olds are listening to their music on the go.” Added Matt Sunshine of the Center for Sales Strategy, “I tell people to meet [listeners] in their medium. Wherever they are is where you want to be.”

At another session, Ando Media’s Patrick Reynolds relayed some stats on streaming audio, noting that 77% of radio listeners listen to online radio at least once per week, and the average listener has nine online “sessions” a week. (A “session” was defined of a stream of at least one minute.)

The event wrapped with an entertaining keynote speech from blogger, pundit and former Inside Radio publisher/owner Jerry Del Colliano.