Owl City biography
Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. 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 in 2008.
After two independent releases, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the quadruple-platinum hit single "Fireflies". The album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010.
In 2011, Owl City released its third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful.
History
Early years (2007-2009)
Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks in his hometown Owatonna, Minnesota, Young turned to composing music. 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 Burksy 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."
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, Burksy said:
"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."
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."
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