In the process Mr. Young  a soft-spoken 23-year-old who in a recent telephone interview described himself as “shy,” “not a huge people person” and “not the best conversationalist”  has become a textbook illustration of how the music business needs new and old forms of media to make an artist a star. The underground echo chamber of the Web has become indispensable for developing early buzz, but to reach a large audience, there’s nothing more powerful than a major label’s radio and retail promotion machine.

Image Adam Young, who performs as Owl City, in Minneapolis. Credit... Pamela Littky for The New York Times

“Having the viral, online grassroots discovery is the single most powerful way to expose a consumer to your brand,” said Mr. Young’s manager, Steve Bursky. “But without significant radio play, you just can’t sell more than 100,000 records.”

Early last year Mr. Young’s Web success came to the attention of scouts at Universal Republic Records, which had already had success with another MySpace phenom, the singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat. Avery Lipman, the label’s co-president, invited Mr. Young to New York for discussions and found him completely unschooled in the ways of the music business.

“It was the most bizarre meeting I’ve ever had,” Mr. Lipman said. “I actually had to discuss and explain the record business 101. I had to explain to him what a record company is, the need for a lawyer, a manager, a booking agent. It was actually kind of tough.”

(The Web has many ways to help unsigned musicians; to get his music on iTunes, Mr. Young used a broker service, CDBaby.)