Apple reportedly put in a bid to buy the rap-battle series Verzuz

Back in 2020, Apple Music and Beats 1 welcomed a new element to its listening library: Verzuz. It’s a live-streaming event that pits two artists in a lyrical one-on-one battle.

At the time, the site, which launched initially on Instagram Live, was going to see a worthwhile time slot on Beats 1 while also still streaming on Facebook’s Instagram platform. The first episode for Apple Music/Beats 1 premiered in mid-July of last year, and apparently it was a pretty successful launch. A new report says Apple was looking to outright acquire the rap-battle site.

That’s according to a report today from Bloomberg, which states Apple was eyeballing the musical battle site for a future acquisition. Apple reportedly set an acquisition price — but it wasn’t enough. Verzuz was actually acquired by Triller a while back, with that company offering a higher price tag than what Apple was willing to fork over.

Apple Music and Beats 1 stopped hosting Verzuz episodes right after the Triller deal was announced. That deal went down in March of this year, so Apple Music had a solid run with Verzuz before it was pulled.

As to why Apple would want Verzuz, which saw its popular boom in light of the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns, that remains a mystery. The original report speculates that Apple was looking for a way to bolster its social networking elements within Apple Music. What that would actually look like, and how it would tie into Verzuz, though, is unknown.

Did you check out any of the Verzuz battles on Apple Music/Beats 1?