Trebel, a new and completely free music app, has made its way to Kennesaw State University. Not only is Trebel offering free music, it also offers a completely new way of listening and interacting with music. Trebel prides itself on being free, having unlimited downloads, the ability to own the music downloaded, and hours of ad-free music. Trebel is an app created by M&M Media, Inc., a California based company founded by Juliette, Grace, and Gary Mekikian.
Since Trebel is a music app made for the millennial generation by millennials, it has integrated the use of virtual currency so anyone can have access to the app, regardless of funds. Users can spend the currency to “pay” for commercial free music playing.
To earn virtual currency, users will see advertisements when scrolling through song lists, when downloading music, and sometimes when listening to playlists. After a song has been downloaded to the device, a data connection of Wi-Fi connection is not needed to play music.
“So this way if you’re at a party, and you’ve got 200 songs on a playlist and you wanna play that and play that free uninterrupted, than you can use your coins to do that,” said Gary Mekikian. Trebel uses an algorithm that watches the number of coins in a users bank. Therefore, if a person is running low on coins, the algorithm might play an audio or video ad every six to nine songs. That gives users 10 to 15 minutes of free music before hearing an advertisement that in turn adds virtual currency so users can start playing ad free again.
Unlike other music apps, Trebel also has a social networking element. KSU students will assign their college campus and be able to see top songs fellow classmates are listening to and downloading, including a top 40 list. Users can also follow and share playlists with other KSU students that have the app. When friends find a new artist or discover new music, followers will receive a push notification.
“We’re bringing music to campus and making it a part of student life,” said Mekikian.
In addition to the new social media aspect, Trebel is also a highly customizable app. Users can make multiple playlists for any occasion. When browsing artists and music, users can find their favorite album art and integrate the color theme on to their personal device. To do this, users find their favorite album art, shake the phone, and the app will save the theme and instantly apply it. The theme can be changed at any time and there are “unlimited color combinations that you can select from based on your favorite artist and their album art,” said Mekikian.
Trebel also has many unique features that are appealing to college students. Users can download thousands of songs and never worry about running out of storage space. Trebel uses a smart caching technology engineered for unlimited music storage. Even though advertisements are used in the app, data based research has been used to make sure advertisements are age, gender and location appropriate.
Not only can users find popular artists, but users also have the ability to explore and discover new artists. When using Trebel, all artists are provided fair compensation through the advertisers that pay to appear.
Trebel also focuses on having interactive content. After a song has been downloaded, users will also be linked to the music video from YouTube and access to the song lyrics well – all from the same screen. When viewing music, a small disk spins on the screen. Using your finger, you can fast forward, rewind or scratch by touching and moving the disk on the screen. If you don’t want to see the spinning disk, a simple fix is to click on the still icon on the bottom left to switch the images. That can be done without interrupting music play.
Trebel is available to Apple phones and will soon be available on Android devices as well. The app has the ability to link all of a user’s music from the device, such as previously downloaded music from iTunes.
Trebel will soon begin a monthly pass option for $4.99 a month that will be completely ad free. Virtual currency can be pooled together between friends to upgrade to the ad free version. The creators of Trebel are currently looking for students that are interested in writing about music and looking for compensation. Students have the option to blog once a week, once a month, or however often they can manage, and will be paid based on how much they write. For more information, contact Corey Jones at corey@mnmmusic.com.
