US Edition 
Apple in talks to buy radio app Swell
App is shaped by users’ past listening habits, so that each listener’s station becomes more tailored to their interests over time
Apple is understood to be in talks to buy a Swell, a Spotify-style streaming app for talk radio, in a $30m deal that stands to shake up traditional broadcasting.
The iPhone maker already has its own podcast streaming service, but the lacklustre app has struggled to attract a mainstream audience, so Apple would use Swell’s technology to supercharge the project.
Swell, which is headquartered in California, uses a sophisticated algorithm to take a slew of different podcasts and talk shows, and present them as a personalised ‘radio’ station.
The app is shaped by users’ past listening habits, so that each listener’s station becomes more tailored to their interests over time. Users are also able to link their profile to Twitter and Facebook, so that the app can glean information about their interests from conversations with friends.
At the moment, Swell only pulls content from US and Canadian broadcasters, but it is available worldwide, and has the potential to redraw the hierarchy of traditional radio broadcasters. Established radio stations depend heavily on the loyalty of their listeners, but the Swell app automatically places a higher premium on the content, rather than the content’s source.
The company has already attracted a small but loyal following in the US and has raised $7.2m in funding. Its backers include Google Ventures, Google’s investment arm, and venture capital firms DFJ, Draper Nexus Ventures, Correlation Ventures and InterWest Partners.
However, Swell would shut its current service down as part of the deal with Apple, according to Re/Code, the technology news website. Instead, Apple would use Swell’s technology to offer a new service to users of its iPhone and iPad devices.
The deal underscores the growing importance that Apple is placing on becoming the interface by which users stream traditional media. Earlier this year, it inked a $3bn deal – its biggest ever – for Beats, the music streaming headphones founded by Dr Dre, the rapper, and veteran music producer, Jimmy Iovine.
Last week, it also emerged that Apple has bought BookLamp, a streaming service for books, which it will use to try to tackle Amazon’s dominant hold on the ebook market. That deal was sealed for an undisclosed sum, estimated at between $10m and $15m, according to reports.
Most of Swell’s team is expected to join Apple under the terms of their agreement. It is the second windfall for Ram Ramkumar, its chief executive. He sold his previous venture, an image recognition start-up called SnapTell, to Amazon in 2009.