Can printed electronics save the music industry? Any minute now, that deliberately provocative (perhaps even slightly preposterous) question is being put to an audience of geeks and music lovers in Austin Texas.  Which just goes to show how much Scotland’s own music industry is making its mark on this year’s SXSW.

It’s nothing new of course. This is Vic Galloway’s 10th visit to one of the world’s most influential music festivals and music conferences. But there is interesting development this year. While no fewer than 12 Scottish bands take to the stage to make live music in 59 gigs (whose counting? Dear Scotland), other musicians are taking part in Can Printed Electronics Save the Music Industry? a seriously mind-boggling discussion about the interplay of digital technology and conventional electronics.

Today (Tuesday 13 March), Found’s Tommy Perman and Fence Record’s King Creosote (Kenny Anderson) join a discussion panel which combines music, art, science and entrepreneurial invention. The rest of the team includes Dundee professor Jon Rogers, international scientist Kate Stone and Futures Director Pete Thomas  (who’s biog notes mention a Cuckoo Clock that dispenses sweets when someone tweets about his company).

You get the idea. Play is an important part of the discussion. So there will be plenty of paper toys for the audience to try – including so-called “Paper Apps” such as paper cards that play printed electronic circuits and paper headphones to listen through.  Some of these beautifully crafted objects were on show at Edinburgh’s Inspace Gallery for a dress rehearsal of the panel discussion last month.

It will be interesting to hear how the highly savvy SXSW audience reacts to the discussion which is part of the SX Interactive programme.  But there is no doubting the enthusiasm of the team who are there to provoke the idea that printed electronics can not only reconnect communities with record labels and artists but it can also change the way we interact with one another.

Perhaps we look forward to a near future for interactive album covers, talking fanzines and musical T shirts. Or to quote Kate Stone:

“I believe that one day all the obvious electronic products around us will disappear into all the everyday objects that naturally surround us, the interactive elements will be there for us to choose to use, or just ignore.”