Nine Radio to broadcast publicly-voted 500 'greatest songs' countdown

Nine Radio stations will count down the 500 greatest songs of all time across four capital cities, kicking off at the start of February.

The publicly-voted list will be hosted by Stevie Jacobs and be played over the span of a week from February 1. Sydney station 2uE 954AM, Melbourne's Magic 1278AM, 4BH 882AM in Brisbane and Perth's 6GT will all be broadcasting the countdown.

Nine revived the Magic stations in January last year to replace the struggling Macquarie Sports Radio. The stations promote a music format of 70s, 80s and 90s.

Artists expected to be featured on the countdown include The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie, among others.

"What makes a great song? Is it the melody, chart position or the record sales? Or is it the energy, lyrics and passion? Nothing spurs a more heated discussion than the question of what are the best ever songs," Jacobs said.

"We can’t wait to unveil this year’s countdown of the 500 greatest songs of all time, with our listeners ultimately determining the playlist.”

Listeners can have their say on what should be the #1 track via the app of the station in their city.