[14][17] Young began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to MySpace, where he started to attract favorable attention for his music.

[20] The song peaked at number one for two non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.

[24] The album's lead single, "Good Time" featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

[31] The group would perform shows at local churches,[11] as well as competing in the Steele County's Battle of the Bands competition in 2003.

[35] Young recorded songs for An Airplane Carried Me to Bed in the summer of 2007 before Owl City broke out into the mainstream.

[36] Once Ocean Eyes became a commercial success in 2009, Young announced that he would re-launch the Sky Sailing project in 2010.

[37] Young called the project, "darker, moodier, and much more organic" than Owl City and is a lot more acoustic.

[41] In 2006, Young formed an instrumental and ambient music project called Port Blue, creating electronic-based songs that he has described as "dreamscapes".

[3] The musical project was inspired by Saxon Shore, Unwed Sailor, Helios, Boards of Canada, and The Album Leaf.

[48] During each month of 2016, he composed and recorded a score based on a subject of his choice, which is something he had wanted to accomplish for a long time.

[49] Young stated he was originally inspired by the music from Disney films that made him want to create scores of his own.

[49] In reflection of this discussion, each song, 10 scores, were all based on historical events that impacted Adam Young in some manner over the time of his entire career as a musical artist and personal lifetime.

[51] His third score, The Spirit of St. Louis, was released on April 1, 2016 and is about Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.

[10] In 2004, he formed an electronic project called The Atlantic with Andy and Tony Johnson and released the album, I'll Set Out on an Ocean Voyage.

[64] Other lesser known projects Young has created include, Dolphin Park, Keehar, The Grizzly and Seagull Orchestra.

[66] He also worked with Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called "Youtopia" which was released as a single on November 28, 2011.

[69] In 2015, Young co-wrote and co-produced the single "Mr. Heartache" by Sekai no Owari which appeared on their fourth studio album, Lip.

[71] Young sang a cover of "Gone" by Switchfoot and was released on September 15, 2023, on the deluxe edition of The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version).

"[38] His side project Sky Sailing has been described as acoustic with fewer electronic elements compared to Owl City.

[35] He has also created instrumental and ambient music projects such as Port Blue and Color Therapy, with the former being influenced from bands like Unwed Sailor, Boards of Canada and Hammock.

[1] as Owl City Adam Young Scores as Port Blue as Sky Sailing as Color Therapy with Swimming With Dolphins with Windsor Airlift Other appearances