What are some of your reasons that Owl City is only popular with a relatively small group of people? Is it because he gets little radio play in North America and practically none anywhere else?(with the exception of fireflies) Is it because people think his music is childish and immature? Or is it because simply, barely any average person knows who he is?
Honestly he’s not that unknown. He’s like the tier level beneath mainstream. I personally know a few people that are also fans of OC. Just gotta bring him up.
I feel like Owl City is well known (as a band, not as the solo artist he is) but it’s a very acquired taste. People I’ve tried to show his music to before tend to comment that his voice is “whiny” and “sounds weird.” Meanwhile, I love his voice as it scratches the right part of my brain haha. A lot of people only know Fireflies too, and maybe Good Time, so that’s what their perception is going to be.
Yeah, i mean, Fireflies and Good Time are still on the radio every once in a while and i´d say most people that are born around 2000 probably know these two songs from their childhood/youth when they used to be, all be it for a short time frame, playing on the radio constantly or at least very frequently.
In my experience he's seen to non-fans as "That Fireflies guy". lol
This^ I'm Australian, and if I mention Owl City to most people, I get confused reactions. 99% of the time, if I say Fireflies, they understand. There was one awkward interaction with someone who didn't know fireflies, and that was wild to me given how much play time it got even here. 😆
Not sure, but at work I get to play my music when I'm at the registers and today the Fedex guy made a remark about how he wasn't expecting to hear Owl City when "Cinematic" was playing while he was delivering to my workplace. XD I was surprised that he recognized it, because usually people will only recognize Owl City if "Fireflies" or "Good Time" are playing.
I think most people know Owl City, they just don’t actively listen to Owl City music.
Yeah everyone knows Fireflies. They just never felt inclined to look into him beyond that
In the 2000's I remember "Owl City" being known pretty well as a few of the songs were mainstream, but I don't think anyone knew quite what "Owl City" was and assumed it was a group of people.
Here in the UK at least, I haven't heard any of Adam's songs on the radio in the last decade, which is pretty sad. I'm sure the songs would be popular if the stations simply gave them some exposure, as opposed to the same drivel from Lewis Capaldi 24/7.
Most people think he sucks lol. Just being honest. To me he is really hit or miss
Edit: to elaborate, most people do know who he is. They just don’t think he is good so they don’t check out any new releases
He’s not a sellout. He makes music that he likes at his own pace. It’s his actual passion to make music instead of being a celebrity.
Probably because he doesn’t make music that’s popular with a lot of people nowadays like rap, pop and country. I listen to rap more than any other genre and while Owl City is and always will be my favorite artist, it’s more common for the other artists I listen to to come up in conversation with my friends. Like, if I mention someone like Eminem, Kendrick Lamar or Morgan Wallen everybody knows who I’m talking about because they listen to them. But if I mention Owl City, they’re all like, “who? Oh yeah, the ‘Fireflies’ guy, right?”
TL;DR because he doesn’t make music that fits in with what’s popular nowadays
His music just doesn’t appeal to the majority of people, and that’s okay
He had a #1 hit.
I love owl city, but my friends always say their music is very repetitive,so they don't like that much. I am from India btw.
My take? Adam isn’t someone who wants to be known. There are artists I like that I would love to hear on the radio (Coldplay, Twenty One Pilots), and there are artists I like that I wouldn’t expect to hear on the radio anytime soon (Imogen Heap). As time goes on, the more I realize that in 2024, Owl City is in the latter category. His music is in a class of their own, and arguably he isn’t chasing a third radio hit. Not that he would be against having another song of his become a big hit on the radio, but that was never the reason he got into music. He’s very humble in that way. He genuinely creates what he wants and is grateful for fans like us that come along with him for the ride. It sorta has always been that way.
I go into more detail in a post I made a little over a year ago when I got Vitamin Sea to play on my local Top 40 radio station. It was for a hot-or-not type segment, and as you’ll hear from other people who called and texted in, it just isn’t something mainstream audiences are wanting today.
Still, the hill I will die on is that Vanilla Twilight deserved way more promotion and a heavier radio push from his former label than it got, and perhaps Adam’s career would be on a different trajectory in terms of mainstream success if that happened, but that’s neither here nor there.
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
--Nikola Tesla
We are a reflection of the music we listen to, and our music is a reflection of ourselves.
The Book of Adam and Eve does not form the canon of any religion, but is a pseudepigraphal text. The earliest known manuscripts of the Book of Adam and Eve date back to the 4th century AD. I find this observation from the text insightful:
In brief, what enticed the people to come down from the Holy Mount and mingle with the children of Cain was the appeal of a certain kind of music. This music possessed the power to ravish people’s souls (2 Adam and Eve 20:3). Once the people descended from the mount, all manner of lusts overcame them. The music had conditioned them for this (2 Adam and Eve 20:20, 30-32). The music transformed people who had kept the divine law, who had regularly prayed and fasted, from children of God into children of the devil (2 Adam and Eve 20:15-16, 27, 35).41 The music robbed people of their self-control, and thus of a measure of their agency (2 Adam and Eve 20:3, 9). The music’s intensity and momentum, when played at all hours by impassioned musicians, inflamed people’s hearts and won them over. A godly habit of life gave way to the abominations that were the commonplace of the Cainites (2 Adam and Eve 20:2, 4, 12-13).
https://latterdaylamanite.com/2019/11/21/twelve-diatribes-of-modern-israel/
If music is indeed a reflection of our current state then I would suppose that as a society/culture we have mostly turned our hearts from good and wholesome things to ugliness. I find most music on Spotify to be in this category. I rarely trust I'll get a music recommendation that doesn't sound awful even when it's recommending based on what I've chosen to listen to. (Owl City, Sky Sailing, Classical/Baroque instrumentals, Tom Walters, Outer Wilds sountrack, Stardew Valley soundtrack, etc.). Owl City is basically like having a bottle of fresh air in the middle of China's most polluted city.
I think it’s as simple as his music appeals to a niche audience. I’m a long time fan but when Fireflies was playing on the radio a lot of people hated it.
Because he sold out and then went a bit too hard into the Christian genre. His messages are just too "clean" for a young modern audience who wants to hear more about sex, drugs, and depression.
He's also stuck in an era that people largely forgot about.
Laughs in “Bombshell Blonde”
I think a good point to make too is that Adam young defies celebrity culture. Think about why so many celebrities are “well known” or “famous.” It’s because they are party animals, do drugs, are womanizers, make bad decisions, etc. I’m not saying all celebrities are like this, but Adam is a pretty clean and kind guy. Those kinds of people don’t make the news. He’s also the opposite of an industry plant, his rise to fame is arguably a “mistake” a small town guy who just happened to make a certified diamond song.
If anything, it’s a breath of fresh air to like a celebrity / musician who isn’t a total POS. I can actually feel comfortable and proud to say I enjoy listening to his music because he’s genuinely a good person with his heart in the right place.