Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-12-07)

Theaudiencegrewthissummer

whentheduosigneduppairsinclud-

ingrappersSnoopDoggandDMXand

soulsingersGladysKnightandPatti

LaBelle.AnAug. 31 streamfeaturing

BrandyandMonica,rivalR&Bsingers

in thelate1990s,peakedat1.2million

viewers—anumberonparwithwhat

someofthemost-watchedU.S.cable

networksattractinprimetime.

Theshow’spopularityhasbeena

boonforInstagramLive,a featureof

thesocialnetworkthathadn’tgener-

atedmuchenthusiasminthemusic

worldbeforethepandemic.Priorto

quarantine,musiciansgenerallyused

it to offerupa behind-the-scenes

lookata tourorrecordingsession.

ThefirstonetoharnessLive’spower

wasD-Nice,a DJinLosAngeleswho

hostedmarathonsetsearlyoninthe

lockdownthatluredMichelleObama,

Rihanna, and MarkZuckerberg to

hisfeed.Verzuztooktheideatothe

nextlevel,givingmusicfanssome-

thingclosertoa concertexperience.

Timbaland in Miami

BPhotograph by

AndyRyan Flores

“They’vechangedthewaystream-

ing happens,” says Fadia Kader,

whoworksonmusic partnerships

forInstagram.

Swizz and Timbaland say

they’ve had offers to giveVerzuz

a new home on TV or on streaming services, but

they decided to stay with Instagram and its 1 bil-

lion users. (Fans who want to watch on TV can do so

through Apple Music; Instagram can only be used on

a phone, computer, or tablet.) Liquor brand Cîroc has

sponsored the show in a multimillion-dollar deal. Artists

who endorse sponsors with a shoutout during the broad-

cast get a cut of the proceeds, and though Instagram

doesn’t allow ads during streams, that could change,

Kader says. Almost every musician who’s appeared on

Verzuz has seen a major spike in plays on streaming

services including Spotify and Apple Music—what Swizz

callsthe“Verzuzeffect.”

ThesecondseasonstartedonNov.19, with rappers

Gucci Mane and Jeezy. “We’re still hands on,” Swizz says.

“We don’t have a big, huge staff. It’s very rare we speak

to managers. We speak to the artists, and then manage-

ment comes in.” And sometimes even two of the most

successful producers of this century get a no, such as

when 50 Cent declined to perform. “Some people will say,

‘I ain’t doing it,’ ” Timbaland says. “We don’t force nobody.”

�Lucas Shaw

CO-

CREATORS,

VERZUZ

& TIMBALAND

Bloomberg Businessweek

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