After two independent releases, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with its 2009 major-label debut album, Ocean Eyes, which includes the Diamond certified single "Fireflies".

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.

His official blog says it derives from the short film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1962), due to his identification with the protagonist.

[3][4][5][6] Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks, Young began to compose music,[7][8][9] recording with a C-1 Behringer Microphone.

[35] The song "Hello Seattle" found commercial success peaking at number 12 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

[38] Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5,[39] Brooke Waggoner and Relient K.[20] 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.

[22] On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of Keith Getty & Stuart Townend's modern hymn "In Christ Alone" for streaming on his website.

[54] 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.

[63] The music video for the track was released on June 30, 2011, and showcases Young driving through the night in a replica of the DMC DeLorean featured from the Back to the Future trilogy.

[69] The recording entitled, Owl City: Live From Los Angeles, was eventually released on iTunes in December 2011.

[70] 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".

[73] On April 17, 2012, "Dementia", a song by Young which was included on his upcoming album surfaced onto the internet and features additional vocals by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.

[76] On May 24, 2012, Young announced on Twitter that Owl City's fourth studio album would be titled The Midsummer Station.

[83] 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,"[83] and Entertainment Weekly: "'Good Time' goes down easier than a frozen margarita at a beachfront tiki bar.

The EP contained acoustic versions of the songs "Good Time", "Shooting Star", and "Gold", taken from his fourth studio album.

[106] On April 8, "Beautiful Times" was released and serves as the lead single from his upcoming EP, which features violinist Lindsey Stirling.

[119] The album features collaborations with numerous artists including Jake Owen, Hanson, Britt Nicole and Aloe Blacc.

[120] Additionally, Young worked with various producers on the album including Blacc, Joshua Crosby, Joey Moi and Ryan Williamson.

[121] On May 5, a sneak peek of Owl City's then-upcoming song "Verge" featuring Blacc aired on ESPN's "Draft Academy".

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

[130] On June 15, 2017, Owl City released "Not All Heroes Wear Capes", a song about Father's Day, with an acoustic video filmed in Owatonna, Minnesota, in Young's shop at home.

[143][134] Owl City stayed quiet for the next couple years, but released a remix of "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk on January 1, 2021.

[146] On August 12, 2022, a track he was featured on by Armin van Buuren and Gareth Emery titled "Forever and Always" was released.

[151] On February 9, 2023, Owl City announced via social media that he would release an 11-track album titled Coco Moon on March 24, 2023.

[156] In September 2023, Young made a guest appearance on the deluxe edition of The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) by Switchfoot, performing the song "Gone".

[160] On March 22, Owl City released the deluxe edition of Coco Moon, which featured the single "Car Trouble".

[162][23] Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music,[163][164] as well as instrumental genres such as drone, ambient,[165] and post-rock.

Explaining why the faith-filled song was added to the mix he said, "I feel like, if I were ever to hide the fact that that's what's so important to me, it would be a crime that I should probably be put in jail for.

"[169] 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.

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.