Apple Music picks up beat on Android phones

Apple's freshly launched music service became available Tuesday on rival mobile devices powered by  Google-backed Android software.

"Welcome Android users to @AppleMusic," Apple senior vice president of internet software and services Eddie Cue said in a message fired off at Twitter.

Apple Music applications tuned for Android-powered gadgets became available on the virtual shelves of Google's online Play Store.

Android versions of Apple Music applications were made available everywhere the service is offered, except China.

Apple's new music service had previously been available on devices powered by the technology giant's own iOS software.

The expansion to Android, the world's most widely used mobile operating system, promised to ramp the ranks of people signed up for the service.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in October that the music service had some 6.5 million subscribers.

"It is going really well," Cook during an on-stage chat at a Wall Street Journal technology forum on the Southern California coast.

"Lots of people are liking it."

People have begun ending free trials of the music service, which launched at the end of June in more than 100 countries, according to Cook.

He credited a human curation element -- actual people who fashion playlists -- for creating listening experiences superior to that delivered by "zeroes and ones" of computer algorithms.

Apple Music, the tech giant's new streaming service, went live at the end of June as the company behind iTunes looks to dominate the fast-growing sector.