American multinational tech giant Apple aimed to purchase the live-streaming music platform Verzuz before it was bought out by the video network Triller in March, indicating that the company is still interested in developing a social music offering.
According to people familiar with the matter, the US-based company expressed interest in acquiring Verzuz, and while the iPhone maker did not engage in a bidding war, it did offer a price for Verzuz that was lower than what Triller paid.
The competitions, which are friendly ones between performers, are streamed on Instagram and have grown in popularity during the downtime caused by pandemic lockdowns.
Triller purchased Verzuz for an undisclosed sum. If Apple had bought it, the service could have added more content and social features to Apple Music.
A spokesman for Apple declined to comment. A request for comment from a spokesperson for Verzuz’s co-founders was not immediately responded to.
Apple Music had a Connect social network for uniting fans with artists when it first launched, however, the feature was removed after a few years. Apple also tried and failed to establish an iTunes social network named Ping a few years ago.
Last July, Apple agreed to a deal to have each rap battle streamed live on Apple Music and Beats 1 at the same time as the Verzuz Instagram Live channel. American information portal Variety reported in March that the Triller deal signified the end of that collaboration.
Recently Apple competes with the Swedish audio streaming and media services provider Spotify for streaming.
