While the genre has started to dip in popularity slightly, there is still a very devoted following and a lot of musicians still sell decently. The true proto-synthwave acts came from musical scores of films in the 1980s created by the likes of John Carpenter ( Halloween, The Thing, They Live, etc.), Vangelis ( Blade Runner), and Tangerine Dream ( Firestarter).

The music strongly shares some key traits within the French House/ Italo Disco musical genres. The genre is credited as being started by acts such as College, Kavinsky, and Justice, although a fair argument could be made that the first big mainstream album evoking the Synthwave vibe and aesthetic could be traced back to the sophomore Daft Punk album, Discovery. While it is particularly regarded as a musical genre, there are examples of synthwave in movies, TV shows, art, and video games. While it does often get lumped in with Vaporwave, there are significant differences between the two genres. Akade Wear, Volga Verdi, Zubaz Synthwave (also known as Outrun) is a particular aesthetic that draws a lot of inspiration from the 1980s.

Aesthetic spotify playlist covers