The future of Odeo

We announced a couple months ago, over on the Obvious blog, that we were looking for a new home for Odeo. The reason was, we weren't giving the site the attention it deserves, partially because our other product, Twitter, was overwhelming the resources of our tiny company. We also knew there were companies out there who were better positioned to invest in and improve Odeo.

We're happy to announce that we've found that new home in New York-based company, called SonicMountain. SonicMountain has acquired Odeo and has big plans for the site. The official press release follows:

Odeo acquired by SonicMountain
San Francisco, CA/New York, NY (May 9, 2007 ) — Odeo, one of the largest and most prominent podcast aggregation web sites, announced today that its assets have been acquired by SonicMountain, Inc., a New York based company focused in the digital media hosting and search marketplace.

Odeo is among the first commercial podcasting sites, launched in July 2005. According to Hitwise, "Odeo is the only vertical podcasting site that has emerged from the pack: It has received five times more traffic than its nearest competitor." In addition to being an audio aggregator of free web audio content and podcasts, Odeo enables listening, downloading and subscription of podcasts, along with synchronizing libraries with iTunes and other podcatchers.

"A critical aspect of the transaction was the commitment by SonicMountain to retain the integrity and spirit of the Odeo community," says Evan Williams, CEO of Obvious, LLC. "During the selection and due-diligence process it was important that the buyer be committed to Odeo's growth and improvement."

SonicMountain intends to incorporate exciting enhancements to the Odeo community within the next few months. Improvements in content organization, search, discovery, plus podcast hosting of both audio and video are only a sampling of upcoming upgrades planned for the site.

"We are extremely grateful that Evan Williams will be acting in an advisory capacity during and post transition," says Jack Roken, CEO of SonicMountain. "Evan's proven success with Blogger, Odeo and now the rapid rise of Twitter are examples of the creativity and influence Evan has on the social aspects of the web. We are eager to build on the solid foundation he has created."

About Obvious
Obvious, LLC is a web product development company, based on San Francisco, California. Founded by Evan Williams, co-creator of early blogging tool, Blogger.com (now owned by Google), Obvious is currently focusing on its latest creation, Twitter.

About SonicMountain, Inc.
Founded in November 2006, SonicMountain Inc. is delivering the next generation social media platform for the podcast community and marketplace. Through unique search technology and recent acquisitions, SonicMountain will re-launch its technology through Odeo, a leading podcast destination site.

SonicMountain is a privately held company based in New York.

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If you have questions or concerns about what this means, please contact us. SonicMountain would love to get your feedback on Odeo and how you'd like to see the site evolve.

Posted by Ev. at 5/10/2007