The producers of Trebel Music have selected Kent State as one of 25 campuses in America to try its new music app.         

M&M Media, Inc., a California-based technology and media company, created a free and legal way for students to get new music. Trebel Music is simple, as described in a press release.

“It’s created by young people for young people,” CEO Gary Mekikian said.

Trebel Music was created within the last year by the company.

“The majority of college music listeners take part in free services or free tiers of premium services that don’t allow individual song selection on mobile devices,” said Corey Jones, chief of product at M&M Media, Inc., the company behind Trebel, in a press release.

Listeners earn virtual currency and use that to download and listen to songs.

The more songs a listener downloads, the more virtual currency that listener earns. With that, every time a listener plays a downloaded song, virtual currency is used.

“You get paid to download music,” Mekikian said.

The app aims to connect with the college campus the listener is on. When first downloading the app, it asks for the college or university the listener is attending.  

This feature on the app allows students using Treble Music on campus to see what is trending at their individual college or university.

Kent State was chosen by the company based off of two criteria, Mekikian said.

The first criterion was the campus having a diverse student body, and the second included how social media active the campus is, to help spread the word of the latest music app.  

Trebel Music is a download and play app, not a streaming service. It does not compete with Spotify or Apple radio, which are considered premium services.

The app is also compatible with Apple and Android smartphones.

When downloading a song, there are ads that play which are used to create revenue to pay the artists, along with sponsors, Mekikian said.

There is also a purchase option available, and in that case, if a listener wishes to buy a song when clicking the link, it will send them to iTunes or Google Play to buy and download the song there.

“We think all music out there should be paid for,” Mekikian said.

The app does not only come with music capabilities, it also comes with social and invite capabilities as well.

The social tab allows for a listener to see and follow other users on their campus and see what trending music they are listening to. The invite tab allows you to invite friends from other social networks such as Twitter or Facebook. By inviting friends, the listener can also earn more coins.

A listener can also share coins with followers that are running low and followers can share coins back. Another feature is that the app includes the music video to go with the song and a tab for the lyrics if the listener wishes to sing along.

To download Trebel Music, it can be found for free in the app store of any smartphone. 

Paige Verma is a student life reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected]