The music industry is splintering in all sorts of directions as we hurtle further into the digital unknown.

With serious implications for musicians and listeners, our ways of consuming music in recorded and live formats are morphing into different shapes; hence the need for more unusual ways for artists to reach out to labels, radio, digital media and ultimately their audience. Like other creative industries, music must build mechanisms to sustain itself and to help make money for the artists themselves. As a result, urban showcase events are increasingly cropping up, with programmes aimed directly at musicians and managers themselves.

Leading the way in the US are Austin's South By South West and New York's CMJ Music Marathon. Manchester's In The City was perhaps the first in the UK, set up by the late Factory Records boss, agent-provocateur and entrepreneur Tony Wilson. Now there are countless others including Brighton's The Great Escape, Hamburg's Reeperbahn Festival and Canadian Music Week in Toronto, where new music is in abundance alongside seminars, workshops, presentations and one-to-one speed meetings. Fans can skip these and run straight to the gigs without the need to wear wellies, while business people can talk shop.

This week in Edinburgh, a boutique event called Wide Days takes place in Teviot Row House Student Union and across smaller venues in the capital. It was set up in 2010 by the inimitable Olaf Furniss, an amiable, larger-than-life character who has worked as a journalist for Music Week, Billboard, The Guardian and others. Having visited various networking events during his career, Furniss says: "There were elements of them all that I liked, but I wanted to create something I would want to go to myself – a fantasy league music convention, if you like."

With co-director Michael Lambert at his side, Furniss runs a music-industry social club called Born To Be Wide which has developed from humble beginnings in 2004. Their not-for-profit, community-interest, monthly themed seminars host distinguished panels which discuss pertinent topics within music, be it production, management, synchronisation in film or photography. After a Q&A, the panellists then stay and DJ with a tongue-in-cheek "No Smiths or Joy Division" policy firmly imposed by the proprietors.

I've attended on many occasions, learned something new each time and had great fun into the bargain. Esteemed guests over the years have included the head of MTV Europe, Irvine Welsh, Laurence Bell from Domino Records, the German Consul General, Music Export Norway and Scotland's own DF Concerts. Growing in popularity and influence, it seemed right for the duo to branch out and book the more extensive, annual, international programme that has evolved into Wide Days.

Scotland already has an annual new music convention in Inverness called Go North, which Furniss says "is indispensable as a creative industries conference. I have a long-standing working relationship with them." Previously, Glasgow had a festival called MusicWorks which Furniss reckons was "ahead of its time in terms of its programming, but didn't manage to develop a long-term strategy once the government money ran out." So what does Wide Days offer that's different? From an artist's point of view, the festival chooses fewer acts but works with them closely to ensure their showcases are actually successful.

Groups get a proper soundcheck, a free guest-list, they are filmed, press photos are arranged and all expenses paid. These may sound like basic stipulations, but it's in stark contrast to festivals where artists are often exploited.

Paying delegates are taken on a walking tour of Edinburgh (Furniss also doubles as a tour guide) before taking part in the daily seminars. They see something more than just a hotel or a convention centre, something with more character – in this case the oldest, purpose-built Students Union in the world. By evening they are actually fed along the live showcase route, which takes in local talent at the Pleasance, Sneaky Pete's and Electric Circus. Movers and shakers therefore cannot sneak off into the night, but are encouraged to participate.

So far the strike-rate has been quite high. Previous showcase band PAWS signed to Fatcat Records and Highland songstress Rachel Sermanni secured a distribution deal with global company The Orchard. Other notable success stories include Withered Hand, Meursault and Stanley Odd, all of whom have played nascent shows here.

This year, Scottish talents Siobhan Wilson, Fat Goth, Fatherson, Roman Nose, Washington Irving and Saint Max & The Fanatics will perform at Wide Days, showing a diversity of genres such as indie, rock, electronica and acoustic song. And with 20-minute sets, if an audience gets bored, they don't have to wait long. If they like what they hear, they leave wanting more.

Events like these help professionals connect to the grass-roots and hear new acts, while younger artists can meet business people in a less intimidating environment than the larger conferences. Delegates can have private meetings with most speakers, and there's greater access to them than almost anywhere else.

Furniss is positive and ambitious. "We could host something that could rival any of the large European events of a similar vein and put Scotland on the international music map," he reckons. Judge for yourself and head along this week.

Wide Days takes place in Edinburgh on April 10 and 11, www.widedays.com. Vic Galloway presents on BBC Radio Scotland on Mondays at 8.05-10pm (repeated 10pm–midnight, Fridays), www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland; he has Kid Canaveral live in session tomorrow. Vic also appears on the BBC Alba TV show Rapal every Thursday at 10pm recommending new Scottish acts. Contact Vic at www.twitter.com/vicgalloway