Bangor - Everyone has a favorite genre of music, but sometimes you can't find a radio station to meet your needs.

There's a new business in town that's hoping to change that.


Everyone has a dream.

" Since the time I was a kid, I wanted to own radio stations," said Jeff Solari, founder and president of Maine Internet Radio.

Solari knew he didn't have the millions of dollars it would take, but he also knew, there had to be another way.

" Instead of having office space, studios, transmitters, towers, and all of that stuff, what if we could just do it much more simply," said Solari.

Using laptops and other technology, Maine Internet Radio was born.

" I think it rivals what you would actually hear on a broadcast radio station in the market. So I'm pretty proud of where we are right now and I think it's just going to get better," said Solari.

Right now, there are six streams. Cori Skall hosts The Alt Vault.

" It's a blend of the edgy, the classic, the fundamental of what makes alt good, and then some of the newer stuff, like The Black Keys," described Skall.

The other streams are The Jet, hosted by Sky Taylor. It's a mix of some songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Mainely 80's is hosted by Dan Cashman. It's described as one great song from the 1980's after another. Solari hosts The Rebel. He plays the rock hits of the 80's, 90's, and 2000's. There's also Toddlertunes, which is great music for the whole family. It features Maine's Rick Charette. There's also Coastal Cafe, adult music you'd hear at a coffee shop.

Maine Internet Radio is completely free, and there are only three commercial breaks each hour, and never more than one commercial during a break.

" Radio stations still play 12 or 15 minutes of commercials every hour. Nobody's listening to that. It's not good for listeners, it's not good for advertisers," said Solari.

The streams are each run by someone local.


" We're all people who have been in the business for a long time, so we really like what we're doing and we kinda have a clue about what we're doing, which is nice. We don't just drone on incessantly," said Skall.

Local is what Maine Internet Radio is all about.

" Almost everybody wants to broadcast to the nation or the world, we don't care about that. We're just using the technology to just provide superior coverage right here in Maine, " said Solari.

It's an online venture that's helping keep a lifelong dream alive.

You can listen to the streams for free, by clicking here.

You can request songs on Maine Internet Radio's Facebook page. There are also a lot of contests you can take part in.

By the end of the year, Solari hopes to have 18 to 20 streams.

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