According to multiple sources, Apple is close to buying the talk radio app Swell in a deal worth around $30m (£17.7m).

Swell carries news and podcasts from sources such as the BBC, ABC, ESPN, NPR and more, and uses users listening history to create personalised content playlists, similar to the music service offered by apps like Pandora. Apple has recently entered the streaming news market itself, having launched iTunes Radio late last year.

The deal, as reported by Re/code, will result in the Swell app closing down this week, while Swells Android app, which has been beta-tested but not released, will likely be shelved permanently.

Many of the team behind Swell, including CEO Ram Ramkumar, previously sold image-recognition startup SnapTell to Amazon. However, it is thought that most of the Swell team will join Apple as part of the deal, to aid in integrating the technology into Apples existing iTunes functionality.

The Swell acquisition is the latest in a series of content apps that Apple has bought out over the last six months, including Beats Headphones and Electronics, for $3bn, and eBook recommendation service BookLamp, which was purchased by the company last week.