Adam Young

On October 30, 2017, Young announced via his social media accounts that he would be releasing an 18-song album, Cinematic, with a release date of June 1, 2018.

He revealed that during the eight months from October to June, three EPs, which he has called Reels, would be released with three songs each. He stated that the inspiration for this album is from "the amazing people [he's] met and the places that [he's] seen." The album's first single, "All My Friends", was released on November 3, 2017. On December 1, 2017, Owl City released the first, Reel 1. On January 12, 2018, a song from the album, "Lucid Dream", was released. The second and third Reels were released in early 2018.

On November 24, 2016, Owl City released "Humbug", a new Christmas song along with a video.

Owl City released a promotional song, "2015", of him singing that he would be releasing a new album. On May 5, a sneak peek of Owl City's then-upcoming song "Verge" featuring Aloe Blacc aired on ESPN's "Draft Academy." The song was released on May 14.

After the single "Verge" featuring Aloe Blacc, Owl City released his second single called "My Everything" from Mobile Orchestra on June 5, 2015, followed by "Unbelievable" on June 25.

An animated video for "Unbelievable" was also released on June 29, 2015 and features Hanson.

On December 18, 2015, Young announced that he would focus on a new project: each month [he would] compose and record a score based on a subject of his choice [...] something [he had] wanted to do for a long time. This project was titled "Adam Young Scores". On February 1, 2016, the first score, based on the Apollo 11 mission, was released to Young's Adam Young Scores website. This was followed by 10 additional scores on the first day of each month in 2016, all based on historical events that impacted Young in some way.

2014 saw the release of the single "Beautiful Times", which features violinist Lindsey Stirling and was released on April 8. Young stated that he intended to release a steady "series of EPs" in 2014 rather than one larger recording, though he later considered and then confirmed that he would be releasing a full studio album in 2014. In June, Young announced that the first extended play would be titled Ultraviolet, and it was released on June 27. The day before, the "Beautiful Times" music video also made its debut on Rolling Stone's website.

In December 2014, Owl City released a new single for Christmas: "Kiss Me Babe, It's Christmas Time".

Owl City did not release a full studio album in 2013, despite such reports. In January 2013, Young stated that his new music would contain more EDM songs than his previous studio efforts. He hoped to record a song for the album with Ellie Goulding and claimed that his new album would be "edgy". Instead of a full-length album, Owl City released The Midsummer Station—Acoustic EP on July 30. The EP contained acoustic versions of the songs "Good Time", "Shooting Star", and "Gold", taken from his latest studio album. The EP also contained two previously unreleased B-side tracks: "Hey Anna" and "I Hope You Think of Me".

In the meantime, Young worked on multiple songs for animated films and television commercials. On March 4, the single "Shine Your Way", featuring Young and Yuna, was released on iTunes from the soundtrack to The Croods. Owl City performed a 90-second jingle for Oreo's "Wonderfilled" commercial in May 2013. In June, it was revealed that Owl City would appear on The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By Soundtrack. The track, called "Live It Up", was released in the soundtrack album. Owl City released the single "Light of Christmas", which featured tobyMac, on October 22. The song was created for the 2013 VeggieTales Christmas movie Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.

In Young's final tour dates of 2011, he performed a new song entitled "I Hope You Think of Me". On January 2, 2012, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his fourth full-length album. Young said that he would be collaborating with more producers and songwriters, saying that his new record "Marks a flying leap in this direction". Young expected the album to be released around late Summer to Fall 2012. In an interview with Billboard, Young revealed that the new album is around 80–85% complete, and that Dr. Luke, JR Rotem, Norwegian production team Stargate, Brian Kennedy and Emily Wright are involved with the production of the album. He was also unsure whether "I Hope You Think of Me" would make the final track listing.

Young, along with Jewel and Jay Sean, released a song in promotion of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign by ConAgra Foods entitled "Here's Hope". On April 17, 2012, "Dementia", a song by Young which was intended to be included on his upcoming album leaked onto the internet. The song features additional vocals by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.

Young announced that a new EP, Shooting Star, was to be released on May 15 and would feature four songs off his upcoming album, so that fans a could get clear taste of what the album would sound like. On May 24, 2012, Young announced on Twitter that Owl City's fourth studio album would be titled The Midsummer Station, and that it would be released on August 14, 2012, worldwide, apart from in the United Kingdom where it would be released on September 17, 2012. On June 21, 2012, Young announced that the release date of the album would be pushed back to August 21, 2012, but the UK release date would remain the same. On July 12, 2012, Young announced via Twitter that the UK release date would be pushed forward to August 20, 2012.

Young announced via Twitter that he would be collaborating with Carly Rae Jepsen on a new song, claiming that it would be released on June 26, 2012. On June 20, 2012, he released the single, "Good Time", via his SoundCloud account. The song was released on iTunes on June 26, 2012. It received generally positive reviews from critics, including Billboard: "It only makes sense that he's joined by Jepsen...[on] a track that could become a radio staple for the rest of the summer," and Entertainment Weekly: "'Good Time' goes down easier than a frozen margarita at a beachfront tiki bar." "Good Time" was written by Matt Thiessen, Brian Lee and Young himself. The song debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at No. 8, becoming he second top 10 in United States.

In mid-2012, Universal announced that subsidiary Universal Republic Records would be closed down, with the label's entire roster being transferred to Republic Records; as a result, all future Owl City material will be released on Republic Records.

In December 2012, Adam Young released a cover of the Art Garfunkel song "Bright Eyes" from the film Watership Down and released it to his SoundCloud page; he had previously cited Watership Down as one of his favorite books, stating, "Probably the book that is super inspiring is a book called Watership Down by Richard Adams. It's from the late 70s, about talking rabbits, and it's a very grounded-in-reality book. It's not a kids' book, but it has to do with these talking rabbits and their adventure, and there's a lot of metaphors and crazy stuff. And that's always been a very inspiring thing. If ever I'm feeling dry, or going through writer's block or something, I just even leaf through some pages of that book and I'm like 'Whoa, I have to go make music!'"

In June 2011, Owl City released its third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, which was followed by The Midsummer Station in August 2012. Owl City has recorded songs for several animated films, including Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Wreck-It Ralph, The Croods and The Smurfs 2. Owl City also has released several charting singles, most notably "Good Time" and "Fireflies".

"I think they saw Owl City as representing the future of our business. This idea of a kid in a tiny town in rural U.S. being able to make songs in his basement that sound like Top 40 radio could never have happened ten years ago. By hiring a young management company who understands the business circa 2011 over a seasoned industry vet, who might not understand the online spaces well, showed a lot of understanding of where this kid was going to end up having success."

In February 2011, the title of the album was announced to be All Things Bright and Beautiful and that the album would be released on May 17. However, on April 6, Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs ("Dreams Don't Turn to Dust", "Alligator Sky Featuring Shawn Chrystopher", "Galaxies", and "Deer in the Headlights"), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful would be pushed back to June 14.

"Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on iTunes, which was previously available only to Owl City Galaxy members, on July 19. Young was interviewed in the August issue of Cliché Magazine. He also appeared on the cover of the magazine and the issue also featured some of Young's very own artwork. Later during the month of July at the Club Nokia concert in Los Angeles, Young announced that the concert was being filmed for a Live DVD. The recording was eventually released on iTunes in November 2011.

On November 15, 2011, Jumeirah released a commercial for their famous Burj Al Arab luxury hotel. Young was called upon to compose the music for the commercial.

In 2010, Young revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, which moved away from his usual electronica genre of music and introduced acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2006 before he began making music as Owl City. His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010, via iTunes.

In May 2010, Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010, featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the van Buuren album Mirage. In September, "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming MP3 on his website.

In November 2010, a new album called Flight was released on iTunes for one of his other musical projects, Windsor Airlift. A new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was also released during that month.

Production on Young's third studio album began around mid-2010, with Young being announced as the executive producer of the album. On October 18, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his third studio album, saying that the album was nearing completion.

After two independent releases, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which includes the six-time Platinum single "Fireflies". The album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010.

Owl City's label deal with Universal Republic was finally confirmed in February 2009. According to Bursky there was initially some disagreement about the direction Owl City should follow, telling HitQuarters: "They were ready to send him into the studio with big producers and polish him up to try to become this thing that he wasn't. But we put our foot down and said, 'Look, the reason you signed this kid is because it's working. Whatever it is about him—his music, his interaction with his fans, his brilliance in the online space—these things are connecting with people, and as soon as you change that you lose what's special about this artist.' To their credit, they really listened and they got it."

Ocean Eyes, Owl City's major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City released three singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies". "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By April 2010, it was certified Platinum in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations. On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.

"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009, Internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.

Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with the song, "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song, "The Technicolor Phase", that had already been featured in his debut album.

Owl City also has been compared to The Postal Service, often critically, for his combination of fuzzy synths, ironic lyrics and use of female guest singers. Pitchfork.com goes to say that "The surprise No. 1 single in the country, Owl City's 'Fireflies', jacks the Postal Service in such a bald-faced, obvious manner that getting into specifics feels redundant at best and tacky at worst." In response to the suggestion that his work is derivative, Young suggested in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that Ocean Eyes is perhaps the "next chapter" after The Postal Service: "The Postal Service released a record in 2003, and that was it. There was really nothing to compare it to until some one else came along and wrote the next chapter. Maybe that's this record. Maybe that's this band."

The viral phenomenon that was building through Myspace caught the attention of Universal Republic presidents Avery and Monte Lipman who approached Young with a view to signing the artist. Republic recommended Young partner up with 27-year-old manager Steve Bursky of Foundations Artist Management and the two began working together in late 2008. When later asked by HitQuarters why the label chose him for a major label act given his relative inexperience, Bursky said:

Owl City is an American electronica project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota; it is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Owl City developed a following on the social networking site MySpace, like many musicians who achieved success in the late 2000s, before signing with Universal Republic Records, now Republic Records, in 2008.

Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks, Adam Young began to compose music, recording with a C-1 Behringer Microphone. Among the software that he began with was Reason from Propellerhead. He began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to Myspace. He started to receive favorable attention for his music and then helped cultivate this nascent fanbase by being an open and accessible web presence, responding to any messages he received and constantly posting blogs. His manager Steve Bursky later highlighted the significance of Young's engaging online manner in building his following saying: "People feel like they know him, like they've got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online." Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached No. 15 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at No. 13.

Adam Randal Young (born July 5, 1986) is Owl City's founder and only constant member. He was born in Ottumwa, Iowa and raised in Owatonna, Minnesota, where he graduated from Owatonna Senior High School and then found work at a Coca-Cola shipping warehouse. He began composing melodies in his head while working, which he would then record in his studio in his parents' basement.