Remember LimeWire? If that conjures up bad memories of computer viruses, questions of legality and debates about if you could really get in trouble for illegally downloading music — well, sorry.
Since then, you’ve evolved into the young adult that you are and have surely become accustomed to a host of — hopefully legal — ways to enjoy your music. But, have you heard of the latest?
Trebel is a new app that offers legal music downloads, for free. Yes, the words free, legal and download just appeared in the same sentence.
This is not a drill, and there’s really no catch.
“We’re big believers in the value of music, but there’s a gap in the market for a reliable service that delivers on-demand, mobile music to college students who can least afford to pay,” said Corey Jones, Chief of Product at M&M Media, Inc., the company behind Trebel.
“Trebel is for the student on a budget who deserves more than shuffled radio but cannot afford a premium subscription. We’re legitimizing free downloads in a way that’s never been done.”
So, how does it work? Users earn virtual currency while searching, previewing and downloading music. They are even jump-started with a good amount of virtual currency, or coins, after simply downloading the app.
From there, users rack up coins each time they preview a song.
Download a track and watch your balance increase, rather than decrease, as you earn coins for watching a couple of ads at the bottom of your screen as the song downloads.
Trebel CEO Gary Mekikian launched the company with his two daughters and co-founders, Juliette and Grace. He said they identified a number of frustrations when trying to obtain and listen to music from various apps on mobile devices. Working to solve these frustrations, the Trebel team managed to create an app that seems to satisfy on all levels –beginning with design.
“Trebel is by millennials for millennials. Having young folks helm the app’s design was important to us,” Juliette Mekikian said.
Users who launch the app are greeted with a bright and cheerful yellow color scheme. Near the top of the app, users can search for artists, songs or albums, or peruse top songs and albums, new releases, genres or even trending music at a specific university.
In the top left corner, adjacent to the coin total at the top right, is the navigation menu. Here, users can access their downloaded music, control settings and explore the social element of Trebel. Users can also use their profile to easily share and discover music with friends and followers, as well as transfer virtual currency to one another.
The functionality of the app is also noteworthy, offering users the ability to listen to most songs without a data or Wi-Fi connection.
Trebel also provides a tab to quickly and easily view lyrics without disturbing the listening experience for users who want to accurately sing along to their favorite tunes and decipher what in the world an artist is actually singing or post a verse or two from a particular song. There’s also a tab that allows users to watch the music video as a song plays.
While listening to a song, users who stay on the main screen without tabbing over to the view the lyrics or the music video will enjoy a screen view that is reminiscent of a record player as the album image is displayed in a circular, spinning frame.
Trebel is also highly functional, allowing users to fast-forward or rewind a track. One need only spin the image with their finger to find a desired place in a song.
Aside from the space the app itself will take on a phone, Trebel also allows users to enjoy unlimited space as they download content.
Overall, Trebel seems to strike some good chords.
You can find Trebel for free at the App Store.
