The Verzuz livestream battles have been a positive force to emerge during the pandemic. As is their nature, though, they are fleeting. The events are broadcast live on the Verzuz Instagram account, and after that, they’re gone (unless a fan decided to rip the stream). Now, however, Verzuz is teaming up with Apple Music to make the battles more widely and easily accessible.
The series, co-created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, will now be available on Apple Music and Beats 1. Every battle will be simulcast live, as it is also broadcast on Intagram, on the streaming platform at no charge. Once the proceedings have wrapped up, fans will be able to re-watch the show on-demand via Apple Music.
The new partnership will kick off with the upcoming battle between Snoop Dogg and DMX, which is being billed as a “battle of the dogs.”
This is tremendous news, as during its relatively short run so far, the Verzuz series has yielded some memorable moments. John Legend and Alicia Keys recently celebrated Juneteenth with a joint livestream, Ludacris debuted new songs during his battle with Nelly, and Erykah Badu and Jill Scott also had a record-breaking showing. The Legend/Keys broadcast was livestreamed on Apple Music/Beats 1, the audio of which can be heard via Apple Music.