Synthwave is electronic music, made mostly from the mid-2000s onward, that recreates the sound of 1980s synth pop, film scores, and game soundtracks. Tempos are broadly mid-paced, typically around 80-118 BPM, built on analog-style synths, arpeggiated bass, wide pads, and gated-reverb drums. It carries a matching retro-futurist visual code: neon grids, chrome, sunsets, and cars. Most releases are instrumental, and the decade it depicts is an imagined one.
Synthwave sounds like the 1980s, but almost all of it was made in the 2010s and 2020s. That distinction is the whole genre. This is not 80s music. It is a modern read on what the 80s sounded like, filtered through decades of hindsight and romanticized through film, television, and internet culture.
The genre does not pretend the 80s were real. It imagines an 80s that never existed.
This guide covers what synthwave sounds like, how it separates from vaporwave and retrowave, where it came from, and five tracks that map the range end to end. For how it sits inside the wider electronic family, see Types of Electronic Music and Music Genres Explained.
What Synthwave Sounds Like
The sonic palette is specific. If you hear gated reverb on a snare drum, an arpeggiated synth bass, and a shimmering pad, you are in synthwave territory.
Sonic Characteristics
Element | Typical Treatment |
|---|---|
Synths | Analog-modeled or actual analog. Warm pads, bright leads, arpeggiated basses. |
Drums | Gated reverb snare, the sound most listeners associate with Phil Collins records. Punchy electronic kicks. Programmed, not live. |
Bass | Arpeggiated synth bass or sustained, pulsing bass tones. Often the rhythmic driver. |
Melody | Simple, memorable lead lines. Often pentatonic or minor scale. Plays like a film score theme. |
Tempo | Broadly 80-118 BPM. Mid-tempo. Rarely fast, never frantic. |
Atmosphere | Heavy reverb, delay tails, spatial effects that create depth and width. |
Vocals | Usually absent. When present, typically processed with reverb and chorus. |
The production approach favors warmth over precision. Digital synths are often run through analog-modeled saturation and tape emulation to remove the clinical edge. The goal is a sound that feels like it was recorded to cassette tape, even though it was produced entirely in a DAW.
For the synthesis and signal chain fundamentals that underpin synthwave production, see Music Production Basics.
Synthwave vs Vaporwave vs Retrowave
These three labels get used as if they are interchangeable. They are not, and the difference comes down to what each one does with its source decade.
Element | Synthwave | Vaporwave | Retrowave |
|---|---|---|---|
Relationship to the 80s | Writes new material that recreates the production | Samples existing recordings and reworks them | Umbrella label, so it depends what sits underneath |
Source material | Original compositions on analog-style synths | Commonly lifted from 80s and 90s lounge, smooth jazz, muzak, and corporate media | Whatever style is being grouped |
Tempo | Broadly 80-118 BPM | No fixed range; source audio is often pitched down and slowed | Follows the style it covers |
Intent | Sincere nostalgia, cinematic | Ironic and detached, frequently pointed at consumer culture | Neutral, a shelving term more than a sound |
Visual code | Neon grids, chrome, sunsets, sports cars | Roman busts, early computer interfaces, Japanese text, mall imagery | Broadly retro-futurist |
Common reference points | Kavinsky, Perturbator, The Midnight | Macintosh Plus, Chuck Person, James Ferraro | Applied to synthwave, outrun, and neighboring styles |
Retrowave is the loosest of the three. Some writers use it as a straight synonym for synthwave, others as a wider umbrella that also covers outrun, dreamwave, and adjacent retro-styled electronic music. If you are tagging a release, synthwave is generally the safer term, because more listeners and curators search for it.
A Brief History
Synthwave's earliest scene is usually traced to mid-to-late 2000s France, though the attribution is contested and the sound went international and internet-native quickly. Kavinsky, David Grellier (recording as College), and Anoraak are among the names most often cited from that period, making music that played like lost soundtracks to 1980s action films.
The 2011 film "Drive" carried the sound to a mainstream audience, using Kavinsky's "Nightcall" and College and Electric Youth's "A Real Hero." The film locked synthwave to a visual identity: neon lights, chrome, palm trees at sunset, and retro-futurist cityscapes.
By the mid-2010s a full scene had formed. Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, and Dance with the Dead pushed harder and faster, pulling in metal and industrial elements. Com Truise, FM-84, and Timecop1983 stayed on the melodic, atmospheric side. The Midnight blended synthwave instrumentals with pop songwriting and became one of the genre's rare crossover acts.
The scene grew through Bandcamp, YouTube channels (NewRetroWave is among the best known), and dedicated Reddit communities. Label infrastructure formed around Bandcamp and small independent labels rather than traditional distribution.
Subgenres and Adjacent Styles
Darksynth pushes into heavier, more aggressive territory. Distorted synths, faster tempos, horror-influenced atmospheres. Perturbator and Carpenter Brut are the usual reference points.
Dreamwave goes the other way. Softer, more atmospheric, slower. FM-84 and Timecop1983 sit here.
Outrun often gets used interchangeably with synthwave, but it points specifically at the driving, high-energy side. Named after the 1986 Sega arcade game.
A Five-Track Listening Path
Five tracks in this order cover the genre from its front door to its heaviest corner. Played back to back, they make the internal logic of synthwave clear faster than any description does.
Kavinsky, "Nightcall" (2010). The canonical entry point and still the most recognized track in the genre. Vocoded vocal, slow pulse, one idea held for four minutes.
The Midnight, "Sunset" (from Endless Summer, 2016). The pop-crossover end. Listen for how a conventional vocal topline sits over a palette that is otherwise standard instrumental synthwave.
Com Truise, "Brokendate" (from Galactic Melt, 2011). Slower and deliberately off-kilter. Useful for hearing what happens when the rhythm section stops behaving like a straight 80s pastiche.
Carpenter Brut, "Turbo Killer" (2015). Cinematic and built for a room. The arrangement moves like a film cue rather than a dance track.
Perturbator, "Future Club" (from Dangerous Days, 2014). The darksynth end. Distortion on the synths, metal phrasing in the lead lines, and none of the warmth of the first track on this list.
If you produce in this genre, work through these in order and note what changes. Tempo stays inside a narrow band while sound design, distortion, and arrangement do almost all of the differentiating.
Why Artists Should Understand Synthwave
Synthwave is smaller than many genres on streaming platforms, but it earns attention in several specific areas.
Sync licensing. Instrumental, cinematic, and mood-driven, synthwave tracks fit TV, film, advertising, and video game placement. The retro-futurist look stays in demand for tech advertising, sci-fi titles, and nostalgia-driven programming. For how sync placements work, see How to Get Your Music in TV, Film, and Ads.
Synthesis and production skills. Synthwave is a strong genre for learning analog-style synthesis. The sounds are specific enough to give you a target but simple enough to achieve without years of sound design experience. Building a synthwave track teaches you subtractive synthesis, effects chains, and arrangement principles that transfer to any electronic production.
Visual branding integration. Synthwave is one of the few genres where the visual code is as fixed as the sonic one. For artists thinking about branding, it is a useful study in what happens when sound and artwork get decided together rather than in sequence.
Audience loyalty. Synthwave has a reputation for a returning listener base rather than a passing playlist audience. That reputation is anecdotal rather than measured, but it shapes how the scene releases: direct to fans, a record at a time.
Community-driven distribution. Synthwave's reliance on Bandcamp and YouTube channels rather than major playlist networks is a model for niche genre artists who want to build a career outside the algorithmic mainstream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is synthwave the same as vaporwave?
No. Synthwave writes new material that recreates 80s production. Vaporwave samples and reworks existing 80s and 90s recordings, usually with an ironic edge. The comparison table above breaks the differences down.
Do I need analog synthesizers to make synthwave?
No. Software synths like TAL U-NO-LX, Diva, and Arturia V Collection emulate analog hardware closely. Many well-known synthwave tracks were made entirely with plugins.
Can I sing over synthwave?
Yes. The Midnight, Gunship, and FM-84 all incorporate vocals. It is less common than instrumental synthwave, but vocal tracks can bridge the genre toward pop and indie rock audiences.
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