What Is Synthwave? To put it simply, synthwave is a retro-inspired genre of electronic-based music, with a strong aesthetic linked to it. It draws experience from the 80’s – movies and games alike! A relatively new term to the music industry, synthwave can be used as a genre term on its’ own, or as a sub-genre of ‘retro wave’ music. Generally, it is a microgenre of electronic music. There are also smaller music genres that fall under synthwave that have their following – outrun and vaporwave are two notable categories.