company name	IKEA International Group
company logo
company type	Private company
foundation	Älmhult, Småland, Sweden (1943)
founder	Ingvar Kamprad
slogan	A better night's sleep.
location	Delft, Netherlands
logistics centre	Dortmund, Germany
area served	Worldwide
key people	Thomas Bergström (Chairman and CEO)Omar Gulay (President and CEO, Inter IKEA Group) Sören Hansen (VP and CFO, Inter IKEA Group)
genre	Retail (Specialty)
products	Self-assembly furniture
revenue	€ 23.5 billion (2010)
net income	€ 2.7 billion (2010)
group equity	€ 22.8 billion (2010)
num employees	127,000 (2010)
homepage	}}

IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer. Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, the company is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden).

The groups of companies that form IKEA are all controlled by INGKA Holding B.V., a Dutch corporation, which in turn is controlled by a tax-exempt, not-for-profit Dutch foundation. The intellectual property of IKEA is controlled by a series of obscure corporations that can be traced to the Netherlands Antilles and to the Interogo Foundation in Liechtenstein.

INGKA Holding B.V. owns the industrial group Swedwood, which sources the manufacturing of IKEA furniture, the sales companies that run IKEA stores, as well as purchasing and supply functions, and IKEA of Sweden, which is responsible for the design and development of products in the IKEA range. INGKA Holding B.V. is wholly owned by Stichting INGKA Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation registered in Leiden, Netherlands. The logistics center Europe is located in Dortmund, Germany and Asian Logistic center is located in Singapore.

Inter IKEA Systems B.V. in Delft, also in the Netherlands, owns the IKEA concept and trademark, and there is a franchising agreement with every IKEA store in the world. The IKEA Group is the biggest franchisee of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is not owned by INGKA Holding B.V., but by Inter IKEA Holding S.A. registered in Luxembourg, The company which was originated in Småland, Sweden, distributes its products through its retail outlets. As of October 2010, the chain has 313 stores in 38 countries, most of them in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. The IKEA Group itself owns 276 stores in 25 countries and the other 37 stores are owned and run by franchisees outside the IKEA Group in 16 countries/territories. 2006 saw the opening of 16 new stores. A total of at least 15 openings or relocations are planned for 2010. On February 17, 2011, IKEA announced its plans for a wind farm in Dalarna County, Sweden, furthering the furniture giant's goal of running on 100 percent renewable energy.

In many languages, "IKEA" is pronounced , but in English it is pronounced similar to the word "idea," as . As such, IKEA brought action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia successfully preventing a competitor in Victoria from using the name "Idea." Its Chinese name is "" (yíjiā), meaning "fit for home" in written Chinese, sounding like the phrase "right now" in Cantonese pronunciation.

The IKEA website contains about 12,000 products and is the closest representation of the entire IKEA range. There were over 470 million visitors to the IKEA websites in the year from Sep. 2007-Sep. 2008. The company is keen to show leadership in adopting more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.

IKEA stores

The first Möbel-IKÉA store was opened in Älmhult, Småland, in 1958, while the first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). The stores spread to other parts of Europe in the 1970s, with the first store outside Scandinavia opening in Switzerland (1973), followed by Germany (1974). Later that decade, stores opened in other parts of the world, including Japan (1974), Australia and Hong Kong (1975), Canada (1976), and Singapore (1978). IKEA further expanded in the 1980s, opening stores in France (1981), Spain (1981), Belgium (1984), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), and Italy (1989), among other areas. The company expanded into more countries in the 1990s and 2000s. Germany, with 44 stores, is IKEA's biggest market, followed by the United States, with 37. At the end of 2009 financial year, the IKEA group had 267 stores in 25 countries. The first IKEA store in Latin America opened on February 17, 2010 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. However, the company has thus far not shown much of a presence in the developing countries.

The world's three largest IKEA stores are: #Stockholm Kungens Kurva, Sweden: 55200 m² #Shenyang, China: 47000 m² #Malmö Svågertorp, Sweden: 44000 m²

Biggest in the Southern Hemisphere: Campbellfield, Melbourne, Australia: 41000 m²

In 2012 IKEA plans to open its first shopping center in Croatia that will be one of the 5 biggest in Europe and among 10 biggest IKEA stores in the world.

Layout

Older IKEA stores are usually very large blue buildings with yellow accents (also Sweden's national colors) and few windows. They are often designed in a "one-way" layout, leading customers along "the long natural way" designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a consumer to go directly to the section where the goods and services needed are displayed). However, there are often shortcuts to other parts of the showroom. Newer IKEA stores, like the one in Mönchengladbach, Germany, make more use of glass, both for aesthetics and functionality. Skylights are also now common in the self-serve warehouses; natural lighting reduces energy costs, improves worker morale and gives a better impression of the product.

The sequence first involves going through furniture showrooms making note of selected items. The customer then collects a shopping cart and proceeds to an open-shelf "Market Hall" warehouse for smaller items, then visiting the "Self Serve" furniture warehouse to collect previously noted showroom products in flat pack form. Sometimes, they are directed to collect products from an external warehouse on the same site or at a site nearby. Finally, customer pay for their products at a cash register.

Today, most stores follow the same layout of having the showroom upstairs with the marketplace and warehouse downstairs. Some stores are single level, while others have separate warehouses to allow more stock to be kept on-site. However, this occasionally results in challenges in finding the items, as well as a perception of having to queue in line twice. Single-level stores are found predominantly in areas where the cost of land would be less than the cost of building a 2-level store, such as the Saarlouis, Germany and Haparanda, Sweden locations. Some stores have dual-level warehouses with machine-controlled silos to allow large quantities of stock to be accessed throughout the selling day.

Most IKEA stores offer an "as-is" area at the end of the warehouse, just before the cash registers. Returned, damaged and formerly showcased products are displayed here and sold with a significant discount, but also with a "no-returns" policy. Most IKEA stores communicate the IKEA policy on environmental issues in the "as-is." In the United Kingdom, this is referred to as "Bargain Corner."

In Hong Kong, where shop space is limited and costly, IKEA has opened three outlets across the city, most of which have the one-way layout. They are part of shopping malls, and while being tiny compared to common store design, are huge by Hong Kong standards. An exception is the newest outlet in Telford Plaza, where the three independent floors can be accessed freely from each. However, following IKEA tradition, the cashiers are only located on the lowest floor.

IKEA stores were first opened in Greece in 2001 in Thessaloniki. It has become a phenomenon with large numbers of Greeks re-furnishing their homes from the store. Some years later IKEA opened 3 new stores in Athens, Larisa and Ioannina.

The vast majority of IKEA stores are located outside of city centres, primarily because of land cost and traffic access. Several smaller store formats have been unsuccessfully tested in the past (the "midi" concept in the early 90s, which was tested in Ottawa and Heerlen with 9,300 m², or a "boutique" shop in Manhattan). A new format for a full-size, city centre store was introduced with the opening of the Coventry (UK) store in December 2007 as a response to UK government restrictions blocking retail establishment outside city centres,. With seven levels and a different flow from other IKEA stores, the format is expected to be used for future IKEA stores in the UK. Southampton IKEA (which opened February, 2009) is also in the city centre.

Another feature of IKEA stores are their long opening hours. Many stores are in operation 24 hours a day with restocking and maintenance being carried out throughout the night. However, public opening hours tend to be much longer than most other retailers, with stores open well into the evening in many countries. In the UK, almost all stores are open past 8pm and open around 9-10am. IKEA Croydon along with IKEA Furuset has some of the longest opening hours worldwide being open from 10am to 11pm Monday to Friday.

Restaurants and food markets

Many stores include restaurants serving traditional Swedish food, including potatoes with Swedish meatballs, cream sauce and lingonberry jam, although there are variations. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the usual boiled potatoes have been switched to french fries. Besides these Swedish staples, hot dogs and drinks are also sold, along with a few varieties of the local cuisine, and beverages such as lingonberry juice. Also items such as Prinsesstårta — Princess cake are sold as desserts. IKEA stores in Saudi Arabia serve chicken shawarma at the exit instead of the traditional IKEA hot dog.

In many locations the IKEA restaurants open daily before the rest of the store and serve an inexpensive breakfast. In Canada, this breakfast includes eggs, sausage, and hash browns and various add-ons like bacon and pancakes at additional costs. In the United States, the local variation serves scrambled eggs, bacon, country potatoes and choice of Swedish pancakes or french toast sticks. In the Netherlands it consists of a croissant, a small bread roll, butter or margarine, jam, a slice of cheese, a boiled egg, and coffee or tea. In Australia it consists of hash brown, bacon, scrambled eggs, a sausage and tomato, with a vegetarian option with baked beans which omits the sausage and bacon. In Germany this breakfast consists of two bread rolls, one slice of smoked salmon, one slice of cheese, one slice of salami, two portions of butter, one portion of jam, and coffee. IKEA Canada, for a limited time, served dim sum alongside its original breakfast menu. Refills of coffee, tea, and soft drinks are, as is traditional in Sweden, free of charge, even in countries where this is uncommon in other restaurants.

Many stores also have a Swedish Food Market selling Swedish-made, Swedish-style groceries, such as Swedish meatballs, packages of gravy and various Scandinavian cookies and crackers, as well as salmon and salmon roe. IKEA also sells lingonberry jam in a wide array of sizes, including buckets. IKEA has extended its product range with the introduction the IKEA food label. The new label has various different foods including, chocolates, meatballs, jams, pancakes, salmon and various drinks.

Småland

Many stores have a play area, named Småland (Swedish direct translation ''small land'', can mean a lot of things but here it means land for the small ones. Småland is also the name of the province of Sweden where Ingvar Kamprad was born). Parents drop off their children at a gate to the playground, and pick them up after they arrive at another entrance. Parents are also given free pagers by the on-site staff; the staff will set off these pagers should a child need his or her parents sooner than expected.

Products

Furniture

Rather than being sold pre-assembled, much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be self-assembled. The company claims that this helps reduce costs and use of packaging by not shipping air; the volume of a bookcase, for example, is considerably less if it is shipped unassembled rather than assembled. This is also practical for many of the chain's European customers, where public transport is commonly used, with the flat-pack methods allowing for easier transport via public transportation.

IKEA contends that it has been a pioneering force in sustainable approaches to mass consumer culture.. Kamprad refers to the concept as "democratic design," meaning that the company applies an integrated approach to manufacturing and design (see also environmental design). In response to the explosion of human population and material expectations in the 20th and 21st century, the company implements economies of scale, capturing material streams and creating manufacturing processes that hold costs and resource use down, such as the extensive use of particle board. The intended result is flexible, adaptable home furnishings, scalable both to smaller homes and dwellings as well as large houses.

Not all furniture is stocked at the store level, such as particular sofa colors needing to be shipped from a warehouse to the customer's home (for a delivery charge). Unlike other retail stores, requests that a model be shipped from the warehouse for store pickup would also incur the same delivery charge to the customer, easily adding 10% to 25% to the purchase price.

Houses, flats

IKEA has also expanded their product base to include flat-pack houses, in an effort to cut prices involved in a first-time buyer's home. The product, named BoKlok was launched in Sweden in 1996 in a joint venture with Skanska. Now working in the Nordic countries and in UK, sites confirmed in England include London, Manchester, Leeds, Gateshead and Liverpool.

Family Mobile

On August 8, 2008, IKEA UK launched Family Mobile, a virtual mobile phone network, running on T-Mobile.

Manufacturing

Although IKEA household products and furniture are designed in Sweden, they are largely manufactured in developing countries to keep costs down. With suppliers in 50 countries, roughly 2/3 of purchasing is from Europe with about 1/3 from Asia. A small amount of products are produced in North America. Comparatively little production actually takes place in Sweden, though it still remains the fourth-largest supplier country (behind China, Poland and Italy). China accounts for about 2.5 times as much supply as Sweden. For most of its products, the final assembly is performed by the end-user (consumer).

Product names

IKEA products are identified by single word names. Most of the names are Swedish in origin. Although there are some notable exceptions, most product names are based on a special naming system developed by IKEA.

''Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs:'' Swedish placenames (for example: Klippan)

''Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture:'' Norwegian place names

''Dining tables and chairs:'' Finnish place names

''Bookcase ranges:'' Occupations

''Bathroom articles:'' Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays

''Kitchens:'' grammatical terms, sometimes also other names

''Chairs, desks:'' men's names

''Fabrics, curtains:'' women's names

''Garden furniture:'' Swedish islands

''Carpets:'' Danish place names

''Lighting:'' terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms

''Bedlinen, bed covers, pillows/cushions:'' flowers, plants, precious stones

''Children's items:'' mammals, birds, adjectives

''Curtain accessories:'' mathematical and geometrical terms

''Kitchen utensils:'' foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions

''Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks:'' colloquial expressions, also Swedish place names

For example, ''DUKTIG'' (meaning: good, well-behaved) is a line of children's toys, ''OSLO'' is a name of a bed, ''BILLY'' (a Swedish masculine name) is a popular bookcase, ''DINERA'' (meaning: (to) dine) for tableware, ''KASSETT'' (meaning: cassette) for media storage. One range of office furniture is named ''EFFEKTIV'' (meaning: efficient, effective), ''SKÄRPT'' (meaning: sharp or clever) is a line of kitchen knives.

A notable exception is the ''IVAR'' shelving system, which dates back to the early 1970s. This item is named after the item's designer.

Because IKEA is a worldwide company working in several countries with several different languages, sometimes the Nordic naming leads to problems where the word means something completely different to the product. While exotic-sounding names draw attention, e.g., in anglophone countries, a number of them call for a snicker. Notable examples include "Jerker" desk, "Fukta" plant spray and "Fartfull" workbench. Also, the most recent new product, Lyckhem (meaning bliss). The products are generally withdrawn, probably after someone pointed at blunders, but not before generating some news. Similar blunders happen with other companies as well.

Company founder Ingvar Kamprad, who is dyslexic, found that naming the furniture with proper names and words, rather than a product code, made the names easier to remember.

Catalog

IKEA publishes an annual catalog, first published in Swedish in 1951. It is now published in 55 editions, in 27 languages for 36 countries, and is considered to be the main marketing tool of the retail giant, consuming 70% of the company's annual marketing budget.

The catalog is distributed both in stores and by mail, with most of it being produced by IKEA Communications AB in IKEA's hometown of Älmhult, Sweden where IKEA operates the largest photo studio in northern Europe at 8,000 square metres. The catalog itself is printed on chlorine-free paper of 10–15% post-consumer waste, and prints approximately 175 million copies worldwide annually, more than 3 times as much as The Bible.

According to Canadian broadcaster, CTV, "IKEA's publications have developed an almost cult-like following online. Readers have found all kinds of strange tidbits, including mysterious cat pictures, apparent Mickey Mouse references and weird books wedged into the many shelves that clutter the catalogues."

IKEA Family

In common with some other retailers, IKEA has launched a loyalty card in its stores in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Turkey, the UK, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Russia, China, Japan, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Hungary, France, Dominican Republic, Portugal, Spain and the US called "IKEA Family." The distinctive orange card is free of charge and can be used to obtain discounts on a special range of products found in each IKEA store. In particular, it gives 25% off the price of commissioned ranges of IKEA products on presentation of the card. The card also gives discounts on food purchased in the restaurant and the Swedish Food Market. In the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Japan, UK, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, US, Italy and Poland it also entitles the holder to free coffee in the restaurant. In Spain, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Belgium, Ireland and Poland, this offer is only available on working days.

In conjunction with the card, IKEA also publishes and sells a printed quarterly magazine titled ''IKEA Family Live'' which supplements the card and catalogue. The magazine is already printed in thirteen languages and an English edition for the United Kingdom was launched in February 2007. It is expected to have a subscription of over 500,000.

Corporate structure

Despite its Swedish roots, IKEA is owned and operated by a complicated array of not-for-profit and for-profit corporations. The corporate structure is divided into two main parts: operations and franchising. Most of IKEA's operations, including the management of the majority of its stores, the design and manufacture of its furniture, and purchasing and supply functions are overseen by INGKA Holding, a private, for-profit Dutch company. Of the IKEA stores in 36 countries, 235 are run by the INGKA Holding. The remaining 30 stores are run by franchisees outside of the INGKA Holding.

INGKA Holding is not an independent company, but is wholly owned by the Stichting Ingka Foundation, which Kamprad established in 1982 in the Netherlands as a tax-exempt, not-for-profit foundation. The Ingka Foundation is controlled by a five-member executive committee that is chaired by Kamprad and includes his wife and attorney.

While most IKEA stores operate under the direct purview of Ingka Holding and the Ingka Foundation, the IKEA trademark and concept is owned by an entirely separate Dutch company, Inter IKEA Systems. Every IKEA store, including those run by Ingka Holding, pays a franchise fee of 3% of the revenue to Inter IKEA Systems. The ownership of Inter IKEA Systems is exceedingly complicated and, ultimately, uncertain. Inter IKEA Systems is owned by Inter IKEA Holding, a company registered in Luxembourg. Inter IKEA Holding, in turn, belongs to an identically named company in the former Netherlands Antilles that is run by a trust company based in Curaçao. In 2009, the company in Curaçao was liquidated. The company responsible for this liquidation traces back to the Interogo Foundation in Liechtenstein Like elsewhere, all stores are operated under a franchise agreement with Inter IKEA Systems.

Non-taxable profit

The net profit of IKEA Group (which does not include Inter IKEA systems) in fiscal year 2009 (after paying franchise fees to Inter IKEA systems) was €2.538 billion on sales of €21.846 billion. Because INGKA Holding is owned by the nonprofit INGKA Foundation, none of this profit is taxed. The foundation's nonprofit status also means that the Kamprad family cannot reap these profits directly, but the Kamprads do collect a portion of IKEA sales profits through the franchising relationship between INGKA Holding and Inter IKEA Systems.

Inter IKEA Systems collected €631 million of franchise fees in 2004, but reported pre-tax profits of only €225 million in 2004. One of the major pre-tax expenses that Inter IKEA systems reported was €590 million of “other operating charges.” IKEA has refused to explain these charges, but Inter IKEA Systems appears to make large payments to I.I. Holding, another Luxembourg-registered group that, according to ''The Economist,'' “is almost certain to be controlled by the Kamprad family.” I.I. Holding made a profit of €328 million in 2004.

In 2004, the Inter IKEA group of companies and I.I. Holding reported combined profits of €553m and paid €19m in taxes, or approximately 3.5 percent.

The Berne Declaration, a non-profit organization in Switzerland that promotes corporate responsibility, has formally criticized IKEA for its tax avoidance strategies. In 2007, the Berne Declaration nominated IKEA for one of its Public Eye “awards,” which highlight corporate irresponsibility and are announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Control by Kamprad

Along with helping IKEA make non-taxable profit, IKEA's complicated corporate structure allows Kamprad to maintain tight control over the operations of Ingka Holding, and thus the operation of most IKEA stores. The Ingka Foundation’s five-person executive committee is chaired by Kamprad. It appoints the board of Ingka Holding, approves any changes to Ingka Holding’s bylaws, and has the right to preempt new share issues. If a member of the executive committee quits or dies, the other four members appoint his or her replacement.

In Kamprad's absence the foundation's bylaws include specific provisions requiring it to continue operating the Ingka Holding group and specifying that shares can be sold only to another foundation with the same objectives as the Ingka Foundation.

Charitable giving

The INGKA Foundation is officially dedicated to promoting “innovations in architecture and interior design.” With an estimated net worth of $36 billion, the foundation is unofficially the world’s largest charitable organization, beating out the much better known Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a net worth of approximately $33 billion. However, most of the Group's profit is spent on investments, the foundation expects to spend €45 million on charitable giving in 2010 (compare the Gates Foundation, which made gifts of more than $1.5 billion in 2005.).

IKEA is involved in several international charitable causes, particularly in partnership with UNICEF, including:

In the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, IKEA Australia agreed to match dollar for dollar co-workers donations and donated all sales of the IKEA Blue Bag to the cause.

After the Pakistan earthquake of 2006, IKEA gave 500,000 blankets to the relief effort in the region IKEA has provided furniture for over 100 "bridge schools" in Liberia.

In the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, IKEA Beijing sold an alligator toy for 40 yuan (US$5.83, €3.70) with all income going to the children in the earthquake struck area

IKEA also supports American Forests to restore forests and reduce pollution.

Links with Education In 2008 IKEA was a supporter of the Design Wales Ffres Awards, providing a creative brief for undergraduate design competition.

IKEA Social Initiative

In September 2005 IKEA Social Initiative was formed to manage the company’s social involvements on a global level. IKEA Social Initiative is headed by Marianne Barner.

The main partners to IKEA Social Initiative are UNICEF and Save the Children.

On the 23rd of February 2009 at the ECOSOC event in New York, UNICEF announced that IKEA Social Initiative has become the agency’s largest corporate partner, with total commitments of more than 180 million US$.

Examples of involvements: IKEA through IKEA Social Initiative contribute €1 to UNICEF and Save the Children from each soft toy sold during the holiday seasons, raising a total of €16.7 million so far. IKEA Social Initiative provided soft toys to children in cyclone affected Myanmar. Starting in June 2009, for every Sunnan solar-powered lamp sold in IKEA stores worldwide, IKEA Social Initiative will donate one Sunnan with the help of UNICEF.

Environmental performance

After initial environmental issues like the highly publicized formaldehyde scandals in the early 1980s and 1992, IKEA took a proactive stance on environmental issues and tried to prevent future incidents through a variety of measures. In 1990, IKEA invited Karl-Henrik Robèrt, founder of The Natural Step, to address its board of directors. Robert's system conditions for sustainability provided a strategic approach to improving the company's environmental performance. In 1990, IKEA adopted The Natural Step framework as the basis for its environmental plan. This led to the development of an Environmental Action Plan, which was adopted in 1992. The plan focused on structural change, allowing IKEA to "maximize the impact of resources invested and reduce the energy necessary to address isolated issues." The environmental measures taken, include the following:

# Replacing polyvinylchloride (PVC) in wallpapers, home textiles, shower curtains, lampshades, and furniture—PVC has been eliminated from packaging and is being phased out in electric cables; # minimizing the use of formaldehyde in its products, including textiles; # eliminating acid-curing lacquers; # producing a model of chair (OGLA) made from 100% post-consumer plastic waste; # introducing a series of air-inflatable furniture products into the product line. Such products reduce the use of raw materials for framing and stuffing and reduce transportation weight and volume to about 15% of that of conventional furniture; # reducing the use of chromium for metal surface treatment; # limiting the use of substances such as cadmium, lead, PCB, PCP, and AZO pigments; # using wood from responsibly managed forests that replant and maintain biological diversity; # using only recyclable materials for flat packaging and "pure" (non-mixed) materials for packaging to assist in recycling. # introducing rental bicycles with trailers for customers in Denmark.

More recently, IKEA has stopped providing plastic bags to customers, but offers reusable bags for sale. The IKEA restaurants also only offer reusable plates, knives, forks, spoons, etc. Toilets in some IKEA restrooms have been outfitted with dual-function flushers. IKEA has recycling bins for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), energy saving bulbs, and batteries. In 2001 IKEA was one of the first companies to operate its own cross-border freight trains through several countries in Europe.

In August 2008, IKEA also announced that it had created IKEA GreenTech, a €50 million venture capital fund. Located in Lund (a college town in Sweden), it will invest in 8–10 companies in the coming five years with focus on solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification. The aim is to commercialise green technologies for sale in IKEA stores within 3–4 years.

In order to make IKEA a more sustainable company a product life cycle has been created, and there is now a never ending list. The idea stage says that products should be flat packed so more can be shipped at once, and that products should be easy to dismantle and recycle. Raw materials are used, and since wood and cotton are two of the most important products in IKEA production so IKEA makes the most out of every tree and cotton plant, and works with environmentally friendly forests and cotton without the excessive use of chemicals and water. Manufacturing comes third in the life cycle and includes IWAY which is IKEA's code of conduct for manufactures and suppliers which makes and enforces requirements for working conditions, social and environmental standards, and what suppliers can expect from them in return. Marketing is another part of IKEA’s life cycle and as much of their paper for their catalogs comes from responsibly managed forests. The catalog is also now made smaller which requires less paper, and less waste in the process. This also enables more catalogs to be shipped per load. IKEA stores recycle waste, and many run on renewable energy, and energy-saving bulbs and sensors are used. All employees are trained in environmental and social responsibility, and IKEA strives to give customers access to good public transit, and well as the stores being involved in the local community. IKEA products help customers to live a more sustainable life at home. The coffee served is also certified organic. The last stage of the life cycle is the end of life. Most IKEA stores take back burned out light bulbs and drained batteries and makes sure they are recycled responsibly. IKEA is also currently working on developing a way to take back recycled sofas and other home furnishing products that have reached their own end of life.

Community impact

IKEA's goals of sustainability and environmental design in their merchandise have sometimes been at odds with the impact a new IKEA store can have on a community.

In September 2004, when IKEA offered a limited number of free $150 vouchers at the opening of a new store in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three people were crushed to death in a stampede that followed the store's opening. IKEA has demolished historic buildings in at least one case for a parking area. (At the College Park, Maryland, USA, store there is an interactive digital display which tells the history of a tavern which used to exist where the store is currently located.) IKEA was refused planning permission for a future store in the United Kingdom in 2004 (to be based in Stockport, Greater Manchester) by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. It applied for judicial review but lost in 2005. However, they later received permission to build a store within Greater Manchester a few miles from the originally planned site in Ashton-under-Lyne. An estimated £10,000 was spent on traffic policing, and even more on rerouting traffic from the M60 motorway around Ashton. After viewing the sign of an IKEA under construction near Portland International Airport, Randy Leonard, the city commissioner in charge of sign permits in Portland, Oregon, placed a moratorium on all pending and future sign permits in the area.

Criticisms

IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was, as a teen, directly involved in the pro-Nazi New Swedish Movement (''Nysvenska Rörelsen'') until at least 1948, causing tensions when IKEA began opening stores in Israel. Kamprad devotes two chapters to his time in Nysvenska Rörelsen in his book, ''Leading By Design: The IKEA Story'' and, in a 1994 letter to IKEA employees, called his affiliation with the organization the "greatest mistake of my life." Former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has criticized IKEA for not depicting women assembling furniture in its instruction booklets, despite the fact that many sets of instructions do, in fact, show women. In 2004 there was controversy about an Irish law restricting the maximum size of a retail outlet to 6,000 m². IKEA's plan to build a much larger store in Dublin caused the law to be put up for debate. The law was changed to remove the size limit for retail outlets selling durable goods in designated areas. The Minister for the Environment was criticized for allegedly changing the law to suit one company and other agencies protested the law change as damaging to small businesses while the government defended their decision stating that the move was a positive one for Irish consumers. IKEA Dublin has since opened on 27 July 2009. June 2007: the designated nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party complained about an artist's rendering of IKEA Belfast that included both the Union Flag and the Ulster Banner flag as two of the three flags in front of the store. After being labelled "an upmarket Orange hall" by the party, IKEA assured customers and coworkers that only the Swedish flag would be seen outside the actual store. June 2007: some prospective customers took offense at an email newsletter. The BRUNKRISSLA bedding notes said, "Brightens up your grad's dorm. Unlike a creepy gothic roommate, who can be a bad influence." Members of the goth subculture took offense at the stereotype. A researcher from the University of Copenhagen discovered that for years, IKEA has named their cheap rugs after Danish places, while the more expensive and luxurious furniture was named after Swedish places. The researcher, Klaus Kjøller, who is well known for tongue-in-cheek statements, accused IKEA of imperialism. People in Canada became upset with IKEA when Citytv discovered that IKEA charged as much as twice the price in their Canadian stores for the same items sold in their American stores, this despite the Canadian dollar reaching parity with the U.S. dollar. In 2008, IKEA sent an email to their British customers advising that ''"IKEA Shop Online is open everywhere"'', however this only applied to England and Wales. As of June 2011 Northern Irish and Scottish customers are unable to shop online, however some Scottish customers may get items delivered via IKEA Edinburgh. This scheme called IKEA DIRECT only applies to certain postcodes and costs between £35 (City of Edinburgh) to £120 (Aberdeenshire) for delivery. Even today, IKEA customers in Australia cannot shop online.

In 2011, IKEA and its Swedwood affiliate came under criticism for its treatment of workers at a U.S. factory in Danville, Virginia and its decision to hire Jackson Lewis to consult with IKEA on attempts to form a union at Danville. A petition on Change.org has received more than 70,000 signatures urging IKEA to respect workers rights.

Typeface change

IKEA caused a flap in the graphic design world in 2009 when it changed the typeface used in its catalog from Futura to Verdana, expressing a desire to unify its branding between print and web media. The controversy has been attributed to the perception of Verdana as a symbol of homogeneity in popular typography.

Time magazine and the Associated Press ran articles on the controversy including a brief interview with an IKEA representative, focusing on the opinions of typographers and designers. Design and advertising industry-focused publications such as Business Week joined the fray of online posts. The branding critic blog, Brand New, was one of those using the Verdanagate name. The Australian online daily news site ''Crikey'' also published an article on the controversy. ''The Guardian'' ran an article asking "Ikea is changing its font to Verdana – causing outrage among typomaniacs. Should the rest of us care? Absolutely." ''The New York Times'' said the change to Verdana "is so offensive to many because it seems like a slap at the principles of design by a company that has been hailed for its adherence to them."

Labour practices

In November 2009, IKEA, along with Abercrombie & Fitch, Gymboree, Hanes, Kohl’s, LL Bean, Pier 1, Propper International, and Walmart, was added to the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame by labour rights group International Labor Rights Forum.

Advertising

In 1994, IKEA ran a commercial in the United States widely thought to be the first commercial featuring a homosexual couple; it aired for several weeks before being pulled due to bomb threats directed at IKEA stores. Other IKEA commercials feature the gay community, once featuring a transgender woman.

In 2002, the inaugural television component of the "Unböring" campaign, titled ''Lamp'', went on to win several awards, including a Grand Clio, Golds at the London International Awards and the ANDY Awards, and the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the most prestigious awards ceremony in the advertising community.

IKEA launched a UK-wide 'Home is the Most Important Place in the World' advertising campaign in September 2007 using estate agent signs with the term 'Not For Sale' written on them as part of the wider campaign. After the campaign appeared in the Metro newspaper London the business news website www.mad.co.uk remarked that the IKEA campaign had amazing similarities with the marketing activity of UK home refurbishment company Onis living who had launched their own Not For Sale advertising campaign two years prior and was awarded the Interbuild 2006 Construction Marketing Award for best campaign under £25,000.

thumb|right|Onis's Not For Sale sign. A debate ensued between Fraser Patterson, Chief Executive of Onis and Andrew McGuinness, partner at Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB), the advertising and PR agency awarded the £12m IKEA account. The essence of the debate was that BMB claimed to be unaware of Onis's campaign as Onis were not an advertising agency. Onis's argument was that their advertising could be seen in prominent landmarks throughout London, having been already accredited, showing concern about the impact IKEA's campaign would have on the originality of their own.

After some negotiations BMB and IKEA agreed to provide Onis with a feature page on the IKEA campaign site linking through to Onis's .co.uk site, for a period of 1 year. Onis is possibly the only company to have ever been advertised by IKEA in such a fashion. In 2008 Onis Homes limited was placed into voluntary liquidation and the website www.onishome.com closed.

The Intellectual Property and trading rights of Onis Homes Limited were later purchased by new shareholders with the strategy to grow the Onis brand throughout the U.K as a one stop shop home refurbishment franchise using the trading name Onis living.

IKEA recently paired up with the makers of popular video game The Sims 2 to make a stuff pack called The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff, featuring many IKEA products. It was released on June 24, 2008 in North America and June 26, 2008 in Europe. It is the second stuff pack with a major brand, the first being The Sims 2 H&M; Fashion Stuff, which are both coincidentally companies of Swedish origin.

IKEA has taken over title sponsorship of Philadelphia's annual Thanksgiving Day parade in 2008, replacing Boscov's, who filed for bankruptcy in August 2008.

In November 2008 a subway train decorated in IKEA style was introduced in Novosibirsk, Russia. Four cars were turned into a mobile showroom of the Swedish design. The redesigned train, which features colourful seats and fancy curtains, carried passengers until June 6, 2009.

Oyster cards (the ticket-free system for London Underground) are now given with wallets sponsored by IKEA who also sponsor the tube map.

In January 2009, just before the new store opened in Southampton, the MV Red Osprey of Red Funnel was re-painted in an entirely yellow and blue livery to celebrate the opening of the new IKEA store in Southampton. This is the first time a Red Funnel ferry has been re-painted out of its own red and white colour scheme. It stayed in these colours for 12 months as part of a deal between Red Funnel and IKEA to provide home delivery services to the Isle of Wight. It was repainted with Red Funnel's red and white livery when the deal ended in January 2010.

In March 2010, IKEA developed an event in four important metro stations in Paris, in which furniture collections are displayed in high-traffic spots, giving potential customers a chance to check out the brand's products. The subway walls were also filled with prints that showcase IKEA interiors.

In September 2010, IKEA launched an advertisement for UK & Ireland called "Happy Inside" which had 100 cats lying on IKEA furniture in the flagship IKEA store in Wembley, London.

In April 2011, an advertising campaign for which aims to discover whether men or women are messier in the home launched. Created by Mother, the campaign will begin with a TV advert shot in front of a live audience, featuring four stand-up comedians, two men and two women, having the debate over which gender is the messiest. The strategy behind the campaign is that domestic clutter leads to arguments, leading to an unhappy home, which Ikea wants to prove can be avoided with better storage. Viewers will be directed to a new Facebook page for the brand, where they are able to vote as to who they believe is the messiest, and submit proof using videos and photos through an app created especially for the campaign. Meanwhile, online display banners will allow off users the opportunity to vote, with online adverts promoting Ikea products also demonstrating the problems people have shared, and offering solutions.

Anna Crona, marketing director at IKEA UK and Ireland, explained: “We are committed to understating how our customers live life at home so we can provide solutions to make life happier. Everybody has storage needs in the home and by encouraging debate and providing solutions we will show that IKEA is relevant to everybody, no matter what your home is like or how much money you have.” Press adverts will also support the campaign, as will a handbook entitled ‘Peace, Love and Storage’, which will be available through the Facebook site

Awards

IKEA was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 and 2005 by ''Working Mothers'' magazine. It ranked 96 in Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2006 and in October 2008, IKEA Canada LP was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in ''Maclean's'' newsmagazine.

See also

IKEA Catalogue

Ready-to-assemble furniture

References

External links

Company home page

IKEA to cut 300 managerial jobs

ikea mutfak

Ikea destroyed ten ancient tombs during new store construction in China ''(Chinese)''

"The miracle of Älmhult" by Oliver Burkeman from the Guardian newspaper. The writer talks about his visit to IKEA's HQ in Älmhult

Category:Family businesses Category:Furniture retailers Category:Furniture manufacturers Category:Companies of Sweden Category:Swedish brands Category:Companies established in 1943 Category:Multinational companies headquartered in the Netherlands Category:Furniture retailers of the United States Category:Jardine Matheson Group Category:Privately held companies of the Netherlands Category:Purveyors to the Court of Sweden Category:1943 establishments in Sweden

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name	Owl City
landscape	Yes
background	group_or_band
alias	Adam Young
genre	Electronica, Synthpop
origin	Owatonna, Minnesota, United States
years active	2007–present
label	Universal Republic
associated acts	Sky Sailing, Swimming With Dolphins, Matt Thiessen, Lights, Breanne Düren
website
current members	Adam Young }}

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. Like many musicians who achieved success in the late 2000s, Owl City developed a following on the social networking site Myspace 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 his third studio album, ''All Things Bright and Beautiful''.

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." Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled ''Of June'', followed by the 2008 release of the album ''Maybe I'm Dreaming''. ''Of June'' reached No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Electronic Albums chart, and ''Maybe I'm Dreaming'' peaked on the same chart at No. 13.

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."

''Ocean Eyes'' (2009–2010)

''Ocean Eyes'', Owl City's third full-length album and major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies". "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts. ''Ocean Eyes'' reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By April 2010, it was certified Platinum in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations. On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.

Young is joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most noted being "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Casey Brown (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgensen (vibes).

Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals".

"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the game ''Tap Tap Revenge 3'' by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of ''Ocean Eyes'', and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.

Owl City is featured on ''Soundtrack 90210'' with a song titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's ''Alice in Wonderland'' with a song entitled "The Technicolor Phase" that had already been featured in his debut album.

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. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2007 before he began making music as Owl City. His first album under this new project is entitled ''An Airplane Carried Me to Bed'', and was released July 13, 2010 via iTunes.

In May 2010, Adam Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010 featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album ''Giants''. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the van Buuren album ''Mirage'' on September 10, 2010.

On September 21, 2010 "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming mp3 on his website,

On November 13, 2010, a new album was also released for one of his other musical projects, "Windsor Airlift", called "Flight" on iTunes.

On November 23, 2010, a new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was released. A preview had been released the previous week on Facebook.

''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' (2010–2011)

Production on Young's third studio album began around mid-2010, with Young being announced as the executive producer of the album.

On October 18, 2010 Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his third studio album, saying that the album was nearing completion.

In February 2011, the title of the album was announced to be ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' and that the album would be released on May 17. 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.

On March 22, Alligator Sky was released as the lead single from the album on ''iTunes''.

In Late March and Early April, tickets went on sale for The All Things Bright and Beautiful World Tour, and All Things Bright and Beautiful became available for preorder.

On April 19, Galaxies was released as the second single from the album.

On May 6, the music video for Alligator Sky was released. Young discussed the concept in a making-of video posted on Owl City's VEVO account, "The concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth. Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."

On May 23, Deer in the Headlights, the third single from the album, was released on iTunes.

On June 14, All Things Bright and Beautiful was released on iTunes. Although only a few days prior on May 20, almost all of the album leaked onto the internet.

On June 30, the music video for 'Deer in the Headlights' was released. It features Young driving through the night in the DMC DeLorean featured in the Back to the Future trilogy and Canadian musician Lights makes a cameo appearance in the video.

On July 19, "Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on iTunes, which was previously available only to Owl City Galaxy members.

Young was interviewed in the August issue of Cliché Magazine. He also appeared on the cover of the magazine and the issue also featured some of Young's very own art work.

On July 21, at the Club Nokia concert in Los Angeles, Young announced that the concert was being filming for a Live DVD to be released by the holiday season.

On November 28, the music video for "Youtopia", by Armin van Buuren Featuring Adam Young, was released on YouTube.

Fourth Studio Album (2011-Present)

In Young's final tour dates of 2011, he said that he had begun the recording process of his fourth studio album. He also performed a new song entitled "I Hope You Think of Me".

On January 2, 2012, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his fourth studio album. Young said that he would be collaborating with more producers and songwriters, also saying that his new record "Marks a flying leap in this direction". Young expects the album to be released around late Summer to Fall 2012.

Musical styles and influences

Owl City's music is described as indietronica and synthpop and is often described as belonging under the broad "alternative music" label. Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music, as well as instrumental genres such as drone, ambient, and post-rock. He cites his biggest influences as Johnathon Ford of Unwed Sailor and Thomas Newman. Young also incorporates a large amount of his Christian faith into his music, since he is a vocal Christian. Young's faith is evident on the new album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful", especially in "Galaxies". 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 that."

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. Pitchfork.com goes far enough to say that "The surprise No. 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." In response to the suggestion that his work is derivative, Adam Young suggested in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that ''Ocean Eyes'' is perhaps the "next chapter" after American band The Postal Service: "The Postal Service released a record in 2003, and that was it. There was really nothing to compare it to until some one else came along and wrote the next chapter. Maybe that's this record. Maybe that's this band."

Other projects

Young also produces music under a wide variety of other projects, which include Port Blue, Dolphin Park, Windsor Airlift, Insect Airport, Seagull Orchestra, Novel, Aquarium, Sky Sailing, and Swimming with Dolphins. Most of these projects were started before Owl City propelled Young to fame. Many of these projects were formed alongside some friends, including Austin Tofte of Swimming with Dolphins.

Young was featured on the track "All About Us" by He Is We released on August 29, 2011, on iTunes. He was also featured on the track "First Noel" on TobyMac's album ''Christmas in Diverse City'' released October 4, 2011.

Band members

;Current members

Adam Young – lead vocals, programming, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, vibraphone, accordion

;Current touring members While Young writes, composes, records, and produces all of Owl City's music, during live performances he is accompanied by a group of supporting musicians:

Breanne Düren – keyboards, backing vocals

Daniel Jorgensen – guitar, vibraphone

Laura Musten – violin

Hannah Schroeder – cello

Casey Brown – drums

Concert tours

Discography

;Extended Plays

''Of June'' (2007)

;Studio albums

''Maybe I'm Dreaming'' (2008)

''Ocean Eyes'' (2009)

''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' (2011)

''Untitled Fourth Studio Album'' (2012)

References

External links

Owl City Official Website

Category:Musical groups from Minnesota Category:American indie rock groups Category:American New Wave musical groups Category:Electronic music groups from Minnesota

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name	Jonathan Coulton
background	solo_singer
birth date	December 01, 1970
origin	Brooklyn, New York City
instrument	Guitar, banjo, ukulele, zendrum, tenori-on
genre	Folk rock, power pop, indie rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2003–present
associated acts	Paul and StormKristen ShirtsJohn HodgmanMolly LewisEllen McLainZe FrankRiffTraxThey Might Be Giants
website	http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ }}

Jonathan Coulton (born December 1, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains" and "Still Alive".

A former computer programmer and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.

Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and the Yale Spizzwinks(?). He is now the Contributing Troubadour at ''Popular Science'' magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called ''Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms''. He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.

Career

Coulton's best-known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade. It was the theme song for an animated show on G4 called ''Code Monkeys''.

His work has been featured on NPR's ''All Things Considered''. ''Good Morning Silicon Valley'' featured a link to a video set to his song "Re: Your Brains".

Coulton accompanied John Hodgman on his "700 Hobo Names" promotional track for Hodgman's book ''The Areas of My Expertise'' as the guitarist (he was credited as "Jonathan William Coulton, the Colchester Kid"). Coulton also can be heard throughout the audiobook version of the same book, playing the theme song to the book, playing incidental music, and bantering with Hodgman, who reads the audio version of his work. Hodgman has also mentioned Coulton on ''The Daily Show'': a Jonathan Coulton of Colchester, Connecticut, was Hodgman's pick to win an essay contest on overpowering Iraqi resistance to American invasion. Coulton wrote and performed "the winning entry", a song about dropping snakes from airplanes. Coulton appeared on the tour for Hodgman's newest book, ''More Information Than You Require''.

Coulton composed the title music for the show ''Mystery Diagnosis'', and also has contributed other songs under "The Little Gray Book Lectures", a series of audio releases from John Hodgman.

In 2006, Coulton began touring with comedy-duo Paul and Storm. They have since toured together almost exclusively, rarely appearing with other artists. At their first few shows, Coulton opened the concerts, but soon after his rise to fame, he was headlining.

Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game ''Portal'', with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game ''Rock Band''. A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the ''Orange Box Original Soundtrack'', in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2. The song has been called "the most influential game music". In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of ''Portal 2'', "Want You Gone".

A DVD & CD of a concert performed February 22, 2008, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, entitled Best. Concert. Ever. was released in 2009. At the concert, Coulton played the aforementioned song "Still Alive" on its ''Rock Band'' version, along with guest "musicians" and geek/celebrities Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont.

Coulton opened for They Might Be Giants for a few shows of their March 2010 tour.

Coulton had been working on his follow-up to the ''Thing a Week'' albums, tentatively titled ''The Aftermath''. It has since been stated that the title is merely an umbrella term to classify non-album tracks released after ''Thing a Week''. On May 25, 2010, Coulton said on his official site that he would be working on a new album, to be produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, and for the first time ever with a full band, including Marty Beller of They Might Be Giants, in a professional recording studio. The resulting album: Artificial Heart, is to be released in September 2011.

In May 2011, Coulton was interviewed on NPR's popular economics-related program ''Planet Money''. He disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music despite lacking a record label contact. He expressed gratitude towards his fans for his surprise success, the degree of which he called "absurd". In a broader discussion of whether or not the internet is good for musicians, Coulton answered in the affirmative, while journalist Frannie Kelley described him as a "fluke" such as the Snuggie. Coulton posted a tongue-in-cheek response on his blog about the comparison, saying "to which I say: snarkity snark snark!"

Licensing

Coulton releases his songs under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, allowing others to use them in their own noncommercial works. As a result, a number of music videos have been created using his songs, including such machinima as the ILL Clan's video for "Code Monkey" and a kinetic typography video for the song "Shop Vac".

Thing a Week

From September 16, 2005, to September 30, 2006, Coulton ran "Thing a Week", during which he recorded 52 musical pieces in an effort to push his creative envelope via a "forced-march approach to writing and recording"; to prove to himself that he could produce creative output to a deadline; and to see whether a professional artist could use the Internet and Creative Commons to support himself. Early indications are that the experiment succeeded in generating a large number of high quality songs, boosting sales of music downloads, expanding Coulton's public presence, and enlarging his fan base. The success of the financial objective is more difficult to judge, but Coulton was quoted in a September 2006 interview as stating that "in some parts of the country, I'd be making a decent living". In a February 25, 2008, interview with This Week in Tech, he stated that he made more money in 2007 than he did in his last year of working as a programmer, 40% of it from digital downloads and 40% from merchandise and performances.

Discography

Studio albums

''Smoking Monkey'' (2003)

''Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow'' (2004)

''Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms'' (2005)

''Thing a Week One'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Two'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Three'' (2006)

''Thing a Week Four'' (2006)

''Artificial Heart'' (2011)

Compilations

''JoCo Looks Back'' (2008)

''Best. Concert. Ever.'' (Live album - 2009)

Other releases

''Other Experiments'' (Rarities Collection) (2005)

''Unplugged'' (Live on Second Life) (2006)

''The Orange Box Original Soundtrack'' (2007)

* 1. "Still Alive" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

* 19. "Still Alive" (Sung by Jonathan Coulton)

''The Aftermath'' (2009)

''Portal 2 Soundtrack'' (2011)

* "Want You Gone" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

Most of Coulton's songs are published on his website as MP3 and FLAC downloads. Some of them are free, and none of them are subject to digital rights management. All of his original songs fall under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" are the only exceptions to this, as Coulton assigned all rights for the songs to Valve. Along with "Still Alive", Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" appears in jukeboxes in Left 4 Dead 2, "Want You Gone" also features in the end credits of Portal 2, all of these three games were designed by Valve.

Other versions and covers

Pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental trio version of "Code Monkey" released on "Mad World EP" and "Arrogant Doormats" (2011).

References

External links

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog, a profile of Jonathan Coulton in the New York Times Magazine dated May 13, 2007.

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American comedy musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American bloggers Category:Yale University alumni Category:People from Brooklyn

eu:Jonathan Coulton fr:Jonathan Coulton sv:Jonathan Coulton

name	Robert Muraine
full name	Robert Leo Muraine II
birth date	July 02, 1987
birth place	Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, United States
height
dances	popping }}

Robert "Mr. Fantastic" Muraine (born July 2, 1987 in North East Los Angeles, California) is a dancer in the popping style.

Muraine gained national attention when he gave a lengthy audition to the obscure tune of "It's Me Bitches" by Swizz Beats for Season 4 of the television program ''So You Think You Can Dance'', during which executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe declared that Muraine was his favorite dancer of 2008 and then handed him the ticket in a mock slow motion fashion. Muraine quit during contestant selection due to the difficult choreography but appeared later in the season for a guest performance, after which Lythgoe suggested a dance-off with Phillip "PacMan" Chbeeb. The dance-off aired in August 2008 during the season finale and the judges selected Muraine as the winner.

Muraine also represented the USA in ''Superstars of Dance'' on NBC. Specifically winning the bronze medal in the solo category, which helped lead the USA to take the top prize for the season. He was referred to as the "popping soloist" of the team.

Muraine starred in a television commercial for IKEA called "What Goes Where?" in which he arranges IKEA products alongside Shugamai Johnson performing with robot dance and liquid dancing.

Currently, Muraine is involved in Cirque Dreams: Illumination, performing his unique style of dance. He is majorly featured in a segment called "An Urban Beat with Robert Muraine."

References

External links

Full length IKEA video featuring Muraine

RobertMuraine.com

Superstars of Dance

Category:Popping dancers Category:So You Think You Can Dance contestants Category:1987 births Category:Living people

ro:Robert Muraine