(Bloomberg) — Latin music star Maluma is investing in Trebel, a music-downloading platform — the latest move by a top-selling artist to get involved in the business side of music distribution.
Trebel nabbed a valuation of more than $200 million in its latest funding round, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is raising $25 million, led by Indonesian media conglomerate MNC Group. In addition to Maluma, whose real name is Juan Luis Londoño, other investors include Christopher Burch, NBA player Thaddeus Young and Mexican business executive Alejandro Grisi. The round brings Trebel’s total funding to about $45 million.
Artists are getting increasingly involved in alternatives to the major streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, which have been criticized for offering only a tiny share of revenue generated to most artists. British startup Roxi is backed by Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams, while blockchain-based music platform Audius has taken on investors including Katy Perry, Pusha T and the Chainsmokers.
As part of the deal, Londoño will serve as an adviser to Trebel Chief Executive Officer Gary Mekikian and will play a prominent role in expanding the service throughout Latin America as it enters new markets. The Colombian singer is one of the biggest musicians in the region and broke into the top 10 of Bloomberg’s Pop Star Power Rankings for the first time at the end of 2020. He’s now starring alongside Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson in the romantic comedy “Marry Me.”
Londoño has ramped up involvement in non-music ventures, investing in real estate developer La Haus and becoming the face of meal delivery service Rappi. He recently released his own range of fragrances and debuted a fashion line at Macy’s Inc. He said he’s now focused on expanding into new categories.
“Music is universal and when you travel to countries in Latin America you can see there are plenty of people — we’re talking the vast majority — who aren’t on a music subscription plan to access music when and how they want to,” said Londoño, who grew up in Medellin. “I have been focused on being part of opportunities that will provide the new generation in music another means for them to obtain new audiences for their growing careers, especially talent in Latin America, where resources are limited at times.”
Downloads Only
Unlike streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, Trebel is download-only and targets users who would rather avoid paying monthly data fees to play music on their mobile devices. Trebel is growing quickly in Mexico, South America and Central America, with about 5.2 million monthly active users. It’s also available in the U.S. and will enter Indonesia in the first half of 2022, with the help of new investor MNC.
“The music labels are supporting us because it’s incremental revenue for the music industry and we’re reaching an audience that’s not being reached,” Mekikian said in an interview.
Trebel began raising additional funds last year via a so-called Regulation A+ offering, in which it sold shares in the closely held company to non-accredited investors. Mekikian said the offering, which has now concluded, aimed to drum up hype for the business and help it get to this next funding round.
“Maluma is a huge get for us,” he said. “The next stage of our development is going to be a lot of branding activities.”
(Updates to specify that offering period has closed.)
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