Apple will keep Beats Music on Android and Windows Phone

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone.

Now that Apple has officially bought Beats Music and Beats Electronics, avid users of the music subscription service on Android and Windows Phone wondered if Apple will keep the apps on the rival platforms.

Apple is known for its buy-and-kill strategy. The technology giant bought online music service Lala in 2009. It was closed a few months later. There were many more.

But it seems that the Beats Music acquisition is a different story.

Apple’s press release earlier today noted that Beats Music will be an addition to its music lineup. Tim Bradshaw of the Financial Times was also able to confirm that Apple will keep Beats Music on Android and Windows Phone.

In a tweet, Bradshaw said, “Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone after the deal.”

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone after the deal, @Tim_Cook tells @FT. “It’s all about music.” Story @FT soon— Tim Bradshaw (@tim) /4/28, 2014

Apple’s Eddie Cue, who will be leading the Beats Music team, also confirmed the news to Re/code today. Cue was quoted as saying, “It’s on Android now, and we want to keep it that way.” However, Cue added that the iOS app will be better. 

In a separate report, the Financial Times said that Beats Music, iTunes Radio, and iTunes Music will operate as separate entities.  

This confirms our previous report last week that Apple wanted to acquire Beats because it didn’t want to risk its profiting iTunes business.