Apple Music’s user base hit 15 million, made up of 6.5 million paying subscribers and 8.5 million users on a free three-month trial, CEO Tim Cook revealed at The Wall Street Journal’s technology conference, the publication reported.

The cloud-based music streaming service launched in June in more than 100 countries (and in September in China) and Cook said users are particularly attracted by the human curation of playlists, something that differentiates it from rivals like Spotify, which launched in 2008 and has around 75 million active users.

After a three month trial, users can opt for a $9.99 a month package, or one for $14.99 a month for families of up to six.

Back in August, Apple senior VP Eddy Cue said 11 million people were on the trial version of the music service. On that basis, it would appear that 60 per cent of them agreed to pay for the service after the trial ended.

Apple Music has three components: a streaming music service with curated playlists, a radio station called Beats 1 and Connect, a social service enabling artists and users to connect directly. All are accessed via a single app.

Android and Windows versions of the app are also available, an unusual cross-platform effort from Apple which may account for some of its popularity.

Cook also said a new version of Apple TV will start shipping at the end of next week.