Listen to Our Best Royalty Free Synthwave Music
We know the right song can make or break your project. That’s why every track in our library is vetted by award-winning producers. Hear for yourself. We've curated a playlist with our best synthwave music.
Dead Simple Licensing
Never worry about licensing again. With Soundstripe, your membership covers the cost for every song license. Just find the right track, download the file, and get a custom license. That’s it. No channel or media-specific fees, no recurring royalties, ever. Here’s more good news: you have unlimited licenses. Go ahead, download as many songs as you want.
The Retro-Futuristic Sounds of Royalty Free Synthwave
Listening to music can instantly — albeit figuratively — transport us to a different place and time.
Think of Marty McFly’s performance of “Johnny B. Goode” at his parents’ senior prom in 1955.
This classic song by Chuck Berry was considered an “oldie” in Marty’s own time (i.e., 1985) but wouldn’t be released for another three years in his parents’ time.
By using this song in this scene, the filmmakers demonstrate just how historically and culturally relevant music is to audiences across different generations.
Not to mention, it’s a way to play out the scenario, How would today’s audiences respond to tomorrow’s music?
Unless you have the keys to the DeLorean, odds are you won’t be traveling 30 years into the past to perform a 2018 track for a 90s audience.
But even still, it’s interesting to see how music styles of the past directly influenced the music we listen to now, or even decades ago.
The synthwave genre is a great example of how past styles shape new music, which is why we’re taking a closer look at its impact on shows like “Stranger Things” and sharing 12 easy-to-license songs from Soundstripe’s music library.
So if you’re a fan of artists like GUNSHIP, Kavinsky, The Midnight, and The Bad Dreamers, stay tuned for some stellar similar song recommendations.
Synthwave vs. Vaporwave vs. Outrun
Emerging in the early 2000s, the electronic sub genre otherwise known as synthwave has a distinctively 80s feel.
We’re talking electro pop that could fit right into a film or video game from (or about) that decade.
While synthwave and vaporwave are closely related, the former is more or less defined by its nostalgia for the 80s whereas the latter tends to have a more satirical take on the 90s era.
If you’re familiar with these genres, you’ve probably also heard of a genre called outrun.
The line between outrun and synthwave is more blurred than it is with vaporwave. And depending on who you ask, the two might be seen as one-in-the-same.
However, as this article points out, outrun has evolved over the years to become more of a standalone style — drawing inspiration from 80s Japanese media and culture as well as American media.
Not only have synthwave, vaporwave, and outrun impacted the music scene, these genres have also influenced visual design and art — which is mirrored in many synthwave artists’ music videos.
Visually, these styles stand out because of their dark color palettes, neon accents, gridlines, and sunsets. The vaporwave style also commonly incorporates statuesque figures, like in the image below:
"'Evolution' and life in vaporwave flavours." by olivabarberodaniel is licensed under CC BY 2.0
80s and 90s digital software had (and still has) an evident impact on synthwave and vaporwave visual media, which you can see hints of in the image above.
From an audio perspective, modern synthwave artists draw inspiration from the sound design and synthesizers of the 80s when producing new music.
Synthwave Scores in TV & Film
Synthwave’s popularity in mainstream media is often linked back to the 2011 film “Drive” — especially since the film’s soundtrack and set design were directly influenced by this genre.
In more recent years, synthwave had a critical role in the scoring for Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and HBO’s “Watchmen.”
Let’s take a closer look at how the production teams fused synth into the soundtrack of these three cinematic projects.
“Drive”
For director Nicolas Winding Refn and composer Cliff Martinez — i.e., the former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer — synthwave had a direct influence on the visual design and soundtrack of the film “Drive.”
The cinematographers’ use of deeply shadowed scenes and flashes of neon light is further intensified by the film’s synthwave background music. “Nightcall” by the artist Kavinsky is one song that sets the tone of the film early on in the opening credits scene included above.
“Stranger Things”
The composers for the show, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, were part of a synthwave experimental band before joining onto this project.
In the video below, they discuss their process of producing synthwave music for a show or film’s score as opposed to an LP or EP.
Because “Stranger Things” was set in the 80s and had major sci-fi appeal, the creative decision to compose and use synthwave music just made sense for the show’s creators and composers.
“Watchmen”
The HBO mini series “Watchmen” is based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons originally published in the 1980s by DC Comics.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the rock band Nine Inch Nails composed the score for this sci-fi series, which you can listen to below.
It’s interesting to see how Reznor and Ross — like the composers for “Drive” and “Stranger Things” — got their start as musicians in bands before transitioning into the role of film and TV show composers.
Royalty Free Alternatives To Popular Synthwave Songs
While it would be idyllic to compose your own music for your next project, it’s not always feasible to hire composers or set aside the time needed to do the work yourself.
In this case, the natural next step is to license existing music from other creators. But the hitch here is that licensing through copyright owners is rarely as simple or quick as you’d prefer.
That is, unless you license music through a stock media company like Soundstripe.
In this section, we’ve paired four popular synthwave tracks that might be difficult to license with 12 royalty free songs that have a similar tone and feel without the added licensing headache.
GUNSHIP’s “Dark All Day” (feat. Tim Cappello and Indiana)
Similar Songs From Soundstripe’s Music Library:
- “Synthy Waves” by Sammy Seeds
- “Game Boy” by Ender
- “Projector” by Falls
Kavinsky’s “Nightcall”
Similar Songs From Soundstripe’s Music Library:
- “Clear” by Fairlight
- “Love So Blind” by Neon Beach
- “Aurora” by Bryant Lowry
The Midnight’s “Ghost in Your Stereo”
Similar Songs From Soundstripe’s Music Library:
The Bad Dreamers’s “Who You Run To”
Similar Songs From Soundstripe’s Music Library:
- “Joy To The Synthwave World” by Falls
- “Lightbeams” by MJ Cook
- “Synthwave Cinema” by Mikey Geiger and Falls
Royalty Free Synthwave Music For Your Next Project
Unlike the traditional approach, our music licensing process is surprisingly simple. So if any of these royalty free synth-produced tracks catch your eye and ear, you can license a song in five minutes or less on average.
All you have to do is select the license button, tell us what type of project you’re creating, and decide if you want a stem version or the original track.
(We handle all of the licensing negotiations on our end, so that’s one less thing you have to worry about.)
Once you press Generate License, you’re all set to use the song or songs in your project. If you’re looking for royalty free synthwave music, then you’re in the right place.
