Edinburgh South by Southwest to revitalise music scene A slice of the world's biggest music festival could be heading to Edinburgh. South by Southwest (SXSW) sees thousands of artists play before more than 100,000 people in Austin each year. Now, its influence could arrive in Edinburgh as Austin council has volunteered to help boost Edinburgh's music scene. This is not the first time that the prospect of Austin's musical influence arriving in Scotland has been discussed. In June, Glasgow councillor Ken Andrew proposed the idea of bringing the full flavour of South by Southwest to Glasgow. Edinburgh council's vice convener for culture and sport Norma Austin Hart said that as part of the Live Music Matters forum, the council has made connections with Texas. "We all know that for Edinburgh to thrive as a live music city, we need professional musicians, a range of venues, the culture and the music ecology to make all of that happen," she said. We will also take the opportunity to bring in others. I've had communication with Austin, particularly Austin council and they have volunteered to work with us. I don't know if we can Skype with them or get some kind of communication going, but we'll get input from them. The move is part of a wider plan to revitalise the capital's music scene, which was discussed at a meeting of musical minds at Usher Hall this week.