Suburban teen runs popular Pakistani music Web site

At 19 years old, Ali Zaidi is living out his life dream.

On a typical day, he's busy blogging, uploading musical tracks and videos, interviewing top artists, creating promotional graphics and maintaining a vast musical library. That's just a small taste of what's involved in running one of the most popular Pakistani music sites on the Web.

And as if that's not enough, this business-savvy college student's other projects include maintaining the first-ever 24/7 Pakistani online music channel, creating a Pakistani dating service and launching a site to handle concert and event management.

In short, there's no musical or media boundary he's afraid to cross.

As a kid, Ali was already dreaming of meeting his favorite artists. Having been born in Pakistan but raised in the Chicago area, his idols were among the likes of Will Smith and Linkin Park. But he'd listen when his parents talked about artists from home, and in junior high, he gave Pakistani music a shot.

"I was just curious," he says. "It's more Westernized than most people think. It's beautiful."

Pakistani music, known for its multiple influences, incorporates a range of musical styles such as South Asian, Persian, Turkish and American to form its own distinct 'fusion' style.

In 2004, Ali and a friend thought it'd be cool to create a networking site to promote musical talent from back home. And pakmanzil.com was launched. Soon, they were being contacted by artists wanting to post tracks and videos and advertise shows. In return, Ali got exclusive access for interviews and tunes. Only a freshman in high school, he was already networking with newcomers who would become big names, like Pakistani pop star Atif Aslam.

As the free site grew - and unmarked packages containing materials rolled in - Ali's parents became suspicious. "My dad, who thought I might be a doctor or engineer, thought it was a waste of time," he says. They have since come around.

Five years later, Ali's maintaining the site on his own, and it's still growing strong. Pakistani radio stations, in fact, often ask Ali for tracks. At its peak, his site was getting 41,000 hits a day; it currently has about 75,000 members worldwide. Ali even has become somewhat famous back home after being interviewed by radio stations and music video channels.

The best part about the job, he says, is meeting new artists. He's worked with top musicians like Aslam, Haroon and Najam Sheraz, bands like Jal, Aksash and celebs including MTV Pakistan host Dino Ali and actress Sahar Gul. "People only dream of this stuff happening to them," he says. "I know I was dreaming when I was young."

The experience has taught him real-life business skills. Strategically, he thinks about the bigger meaning behind his work - using his site to give to charity and promote awareness and a greater understanding of Pakistan.

There are many misconceptions about his home country, he says. Pakistanis listen to rap music, wear jeans and T-shirts and like Western artists. By promoting similarities between Pakistan and other countries - and trying to understand and acknowledge the cause of deeper tensions - there's hope for peace and collaboration, he believes. "We shouldn't let politics get in the way," he says. "Music (from anywhere) is art, and art has no boundaries."

To that end, he hopes to develop crossover projects with American and Pakistani and Indian artists collaborating. He's talked with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys about one such idea. Someday, when he's an adult, Ali hopes to open a recording studio in Chicago to provide Pakistani artists a musical outlet aside from Bollywood, where political tensions won't affect how business is run.

But for now, he's a busy student at Chicago's Columbia College, majoring in media management and living at home in Skokie. "Ali is really busy and tired," read one recent Facebook status.

And though it's hectic trying to juggle everything - "what I sacrifice at the end of the day is a social life," he says - the real-life experience and priceless industry connections have made it more than worth it. "You're kind of like a celebrity," he says. "That's sort of cool."