The search is on for the ultimate West Midlands music playlist.
The B-side project aims to find the 20 songs which best symbolise the rich and diverse music of Birmingham and the surrounding area.
A long list of songs will be created by public vote, with people submitting their suggestions at the website visitbirmingham.com/bside.
Then a panel of local musicians, writers and presenters will narrow down the list to the Top 20, creating the ultimate 'virtual album' of songs.
The B-side is an initiative by Visit Birmingham, which points out that the music tourism industry was worth £119 million to the West Midlands economy in 2012.
A report by UK Music and Visit Britain showed that 50 per cent of concert audiences in the West Midlands come from outside the region, far higher than the national average of 41 per cent.
Emma Gray, director of Marketing Services at Visit Birmingham, said: "The city's musical light has sometimes been hidden under a bushel and, like the B-side of a single, is something of an undiscovered gem.
"The aim of B-side is to show that the region boasts a rich and diverse musical heritage with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, ELO, UB40 and Ocean Colour Scene.
"And with artists including Peace, Swim Deep, Jaws and Laura Mvula, it is a hotbed of exciting new talent."
The expert panel includes Horace Panter, bassist with The Specials, Phil Etheridge, frontman with The Twang, singer Vix Vox and music journalists Pete Paphides and Matt Everitt.
Each of the panellists, plus other B-side champions, will suggest a favourite track they would like to see on the list, which will be chosen in early July.
The campaign uses the Twitter name #BsideBrum.
Horace, 60, said why he decided to choose the rather obscure song Trampoline by The Spencer Davis Group to highlight soul music from Birmingham.
"I remember the second or third record I bought in 1966 was When I Come Home by the Spencer Davis Group, and the B-side was Trampoline," he said.
"I've always like it, it's always been one of my favourite songs. I put it on a mix tape in the 1980s but I haven’t heard it for a while as I don't have a cassette player.
"It's a great piece of music, very funky, as good as anything Booker T and the MGs were doing in Memphis. The soul side of the West Midlands is quite under-represented, I think.
"In Coventry, it's got to be Ska, in Birmingham people always think of Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne. But actually the region has produced all types of music genres.
"There are some really good bands coming up, like Pretty Rascals, and The Beat were always one of my favourites.
"I'm looking forward to the judging and I hope I will learn of new songs I'd never heard before."
Horace is back with the reformed Ska band The Specials as they play the Isle of Wight Festival next month before going on tour in November.
Horace also plays most weekends in Coventry pubs in a blues band, but he says: "I'm not going to tell you their name, we're not famous and we don't want to be.
"We just play for fun, sometimes to only 15 people. I much prefer music played in the back rooms of pubs rather than at the NEC or NIA. There’s a much better atmosphere and the music was made to be played in these places."
