Synth encompasses music where synthesizers are the primary creative and sonic force, spanning four decades of evolution from analog pioneers to digital innovators. Emerging from the experimental studios of the 1970s with Kraftwerk's robotic precision and Devo's art-punk subversion, the genre crystallized around the synthesizer as both instrument and identity—not merely accompanying traditional rock structures but replacing them entirely. This is music built on oscillators, filters, and sequencers, where timbral exploration and textural layering define the compositional process itself.
What distinguishes synth from its neighboring derivatives is its refusal to commit to a single aesthetic template. While synthpop demands hooky melodies and pop song structures, and darkwave insists on gothic atmospheres, synth itself remains a broad church—equally home to the retrofuturist soundscapes of Com Truise, the aggressive cyberpunk intensity of Perturbator and Dan Terminus, the minimal electronic funk of Prince's most experimental moments, and the cinematic suspense of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein's Stranger Things scores. It's less a rigid style than a methodological commitment: if the synthesizer drives the vision, you're in synth territory.
For listeners, synth offers an unparalleled sonic palette—from warm analog warmth to icy digital precision, from danceable rhythms to abstract soundscapes. This is where electronic music maintains its experimental edge while remaining accessible, where nostalgia for vintage gear coexists with cutting-edge production, and where genre boundaries dissolve into pure synthesized sound.
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List updated:
| #80 | ByThe Normal | Released:1978-10 | minimal synthsynth | ||
| #63 | ByUK | Released:1978 | progressive rocksynth | ||
| #52 | ByEdgar Froese | Released:1979-09-01 | |||
| #36 | ByHarald Grosskopf | Released:1980-01-01 | |||
| #58 | ByKrisma | Released:1980-01-01 | synth | ||
| #97 | ByCeramic Hello | Released:1981 | |||
| #72 | ByThe Actor | Released:1982-10-22 | |||
| #16 | ByDepeche Mode | Released:1984-09-24 | |||
| #98 | ByDiseño Corbusier | Released:1986 | synth | ||
| #4 | ByKraftwerk | Released:1993 | |||
| #18 | ByDepeche Mode | Released:1993 | |||
| #74 | ByCarl Craig | Released:1995 | |||
| #8 | ByDeux | Released:1997-11-17 | synth | ||
| #64 | ByAlien Sex Fiend | Released:2000 | |||
| #39 | ByTobacco | Released:2004 | |||
| #41 | ByNeuroticfish | Released:2005-02-07 | |||
| #24 | ByApoptygma Berzerk | Released:2005-09-12 | |||
| #5 | ByHome | Released:2006-05-09 | |||
| #93 | ByMenticide | Released:2007-05-29 | |||
| #99 | By7he Myriads | Released:2007-09-10 | space discosynth | ||
| #46 | ByThe Mysterious Town Of Oak Hill | Released:2007-09-16 | synth | ||
| #89 | ByWorship | Released:2007-11-11 | |||
| #15 | ByMinitel Rose | Released:2008-05-28 | electrosynth | ||
| #61 | ByThe Screamers | Released:2008 | synthsynth punk | ||
| #43 | ByLinear Movement | Released:2009-01-09 | |||
| #45 | ByGPKISM | Released:2009-03-04 | |||
| #49 | ByThe Boy Least Likely To | Released:2009-03-09 | |||
| #30 | BySixth June | Released:2010-03-13 | minimal wavesynth | ||
| #7 | ByDEUX | Released:2010-05-26 | synthminimal synth | ||
| #6 | ByDeux | Released:2010-06-01 | synthminimal synth | ||
| #10 | ByLight Asylum | Released:2010 | synth punksynth | ||
| #71 | ByHypomanie | Released:2011-01-25 | |||
| #33 | ByAutumn | Released:2011-03-03 | |||
| #87 | ByDisko-ions | Released:2011-03-26 | |||
| #66 | By047 | Released:2011-05-30 | |||
| #48 | ByCold in May | Released:2011 | |||
| #35 | ByLazerhawk | Released:2012-02-03 | |||
| #96 | ByDylan Ettinger | Released:2012-03-20 | |||
| #32 | ByLetting Up Despite Great Faults | Released:2012-07-25 | dream popsynth | ||
| #50 | ByPerturbator | Released:2012-08-02 | synthdreamwave | ||
| #62 | ByMushy | Released:2012-11-19 | |||
| #69 | BySandra Plays Electronics | Released:2013-03-18 | synthminimal synth | ||
| #91 | ByCompilerbau | Released:2013-09-03 | |||
| #92 | ByDroid Bishop | Released:2013-10-16 | |||
| #3 | BySaâda Bonaire | Released:2013-11-12 | synth | ||
| #84 | ByCold in May | Released:2013-11-27 | |||
| #55 | ByVisonia | Released:2013 | synth | ||
| #14 | ByShirobon | Released:2014-02-04 | |||
| #23 | ByCom Truise | Released:2014-02-18 | |||
| #75 | ByCulture Culture | Released:2014-03-06 | synth | ||
| #34 | ByMetronomy | Released:2014-03-10 | |||
| #76 | ByDan Terminus | Released:2014-04-12 | |||
| #9 | ByCharli xcx | Released:2014-05-02 | synthbubblegum bass | ||
| #42 | ByDan Terminus | Released:2014-05-26 | |||
| #13 | ByPerturbator | Released:2014-06-16 | |||
| #21 | ByMagic Sword | Released:2015-01-29 | |||
| #83 | ByDanger Mode | Released:2015-04-14 | |||
| #47 | BySsleeping desiresS | Released:2015-04-27 | |||
| #65 | ByGraeme Miller & Steve Shill | Released:2015-04-27 | |||
| #79 | ByQual | Released:2015-05-28 | |||
| #20 | ByGiorgio Moroder | Released:2015-06-12 | |||
| #22 | ByMinuit Machine | Released:2015-10-09 | |||
| #82 | ByGalactiCop | Released:2016-04-15 | |||
| #94 | Byµ-Ziq | Released:2016-05-13 | |||
| #11 | ByLebanon Hanover | Released:2016-11-15 | |||
| #53 | ByDynatron | Released:2016-12-20 | |||
| #78 | ByQuest Master | Released:2017-06-10 | |||
| #70 | ByOccams Laser | Released:2017-06-23 | |||
| #68 | ByDan Mason ダン·メイソン | Released:2017-07-14 | |||
| #37 | ByTrickfinger | Released:2017-09-08 | |||
| #77 | ByHubrid | Released:2017-09-22 | |||
| #73 | ByRaydar | Released:2017-10-31 | |||
| #40 | BySolid Space | Released:2017-12-12 | |||
| #59 | ByLao Che | Released:2018-02-16 | |||
| #44 | ByHollywood Burns | Released:2018-04-13 | |||
| #60 | ByEye | Released:2018-04-23 | |||
| #56 | ByKillstarr | Released:2018-07-26 | |||
| #28 | ByDance With The Dead | Released:2018-09-03 | |||
| #86 | ByTommi Stumpff | Released:2019-01-11 | new beatsynth | ||
| #81 | ByDarksol | Released:2019-03-16 | |||
| #51 | ByTommy '86 | Released:2019-04-30 | |||
| #90 | ByJorja Chalmers | Released:2019-07-28 | |||
| #27 | ByOsees | Released:2019-11-20 | synth | ||
| #1 | ByChoir Boy | Released:2019-12-21 | synthpopsynth | ||
| #2 | ByAllie X | Released:2020-02-21 | |||
| #85 | ByQuest Master | Released:2020-06-26 | |||
| #31 | ByTR/ST | Released:2020-11-26 | |||
| #38 | ByTR/ST | Released:2020-11-26 | |||
| #95 | ByJudge Bitch | Released:2021-01-15 | |||
| #26 | ByAmiture | Released:2021-03-19 | synth | ||
| #17 | ByTagore | Released:2021-09-17 | synth | ||
| #25 | ByBeast in Black | Released:2021-10-29 | |||
| #54 | ByQuest Master | Released:2021-11-03 | |||
| #19 | ByChoir Boy | Released:2022 | |||
| #57 | ByThe Black Dog | Released:2023-05-12 | |||
| #100 | ByMegas & wavetearz | Released:2024-02-28 | |||
| #67 | ByJuno Francis | Released:2025-03-07 | synth | ||
| #29 | ByThe Birthday Massacre | Released:2025-04-11 | |||
| #12 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2026-03-27 | synth | ||
| #88 | Byflatsound | Released: |