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Genre
dark wave
Parent Genre: new age

Dark wave is a subgenre of alternative rock music that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is characterized by its melancholic and introspective lyrics, as well as its use of electronic instruments and synthesizers. The genre often features a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and mood, with a focus on creating a sense of darkness and mystery. Dark wave music often incorporates elements of post-punk, gothic rock, and new wave, and has been associated with themes of death, despair, and the supernatural.


Top artists of dark wave genre

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dark wave music timeline

Explore dark wave history by listening to songs from every decade. Click on the decade to view songs.

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s

Similar Genres to dark wave

Discover more related genres to dark wave genre. This list is ordered by similarity from left to right.

ethereal wave gothic rock neoclassical darkwave ebm electro-industrial corrosion medieval folk futurepop dark electro neue deutsche todeskunst industrial metal dark post-punk aggrotech deathrock neo-synthpop rune folk industrial new wave steampunk synthpop
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dark wave playlist created by Chosic

Enjoy this playlist of popular dark wave music. We made this playlist using an algorithm created by our team.

List of dark wave artists

Here is a list of dark wave artists on Spotify, ranked based on popularity, who exemplifies the dark wave genre. You can find out what dark wave genre sounds like where you can preview artists or sort them the way you want, just click the headers to sort.

#namePopularity instrumentalnessdanceabilityenergyacousticnessHappinesstempofollowers
1 54 16 60 73 2 50 130 322081
2 53 13 50 62 12 43 131 709742
3 45 43 59 76 18 56 124 103973
4 44 11 53 86 7 45 127 100753
5 43 16 38 78 9 29 129 148001
6 42 20 44 81 0 28 124 108666
7 42 26 53 73 5 44 129 136078
8 41 8 59 82 2 51 125 38515
9 40 38 49 94 2 33 132 77811
10 40 12 60 67 15 48 129 84078
11 39 32 56 85 4 47 127 74976
12 39 24 54 89 1 41 122 67259
13 38 59 59 83 12 39 127 89562
14 37 36 60 72 29 30 124 67933
15 37 21 49 54 13 31 110 101520
16 37 49 30 70 8 31 126 101408
17 36 23 61 66 15 41 112 29277
18 35 37 52 83 4 28 126 53634
19 35 8 57 86 4 43 128 29316
20 35 24 56 58 59 31 117 46315
21 34 9 51 79 1 44 137 47539
22 34 38 53 75 2 41 128 101698
23 33 43 52 87 2 44 127 58721
24 33 33 45 75 4 58 149 65186
25 33 24 51 67 17 28 119 16697
26 33 9 56 81 7 40 127 48139
27 32 48 47 87 2 57 139 42190
28 31 44 61 89 3 51 131 31179
29 31 33 56 84 3 41 126 31494
30 30 20 53 63 5 36 146 22608
31 30 4 58 85 2 37 127 52523
32 30 57 44 39 28 27 122 15741
33 30 71 46 81 1 43 126 36611
34 30 45 38 73 4 37 124 34326
35 29 11 34 84 10 25 133 33524
36 29 23 57 56 17 41 135 50341
37 29 1 53 73 9 24 111 46953
38 29 10 62 78 13 49 121 23193
39 29 14 40 72 13 32 128 31755
40 29 61 54 88 3 47 120 39031
41 29 49 50 79 5 38 129 27699
42 28 27 60 82 6 45 119 17444
43 28 37 36 57 34 25 130 17171
44 28 50 41 79 6 44 138 38389
45 27 29 61 87 9 43 122 28307
46 27 9 54 54 38 35 113 20854
47 26 26 53 82 7 43 130 25212
48 26 61 58 77 1 41 128 23792
49 26 72 41 63 12 28 122 23628
50 25 25 49 79 19 29 129 12082
51 25 49 58 80 8 50 127 8179
52 25 10 53 77 8 36 130 25124
53 25 47 40 66 17 29 128 27362
54 25 13 44 81 7 32 129 15035
55 24 16 54 83 5 35 125 5708
56 24 14 48 79 2 67 111 12080
57 24 19 47 77 1 33 130 19479
58 24 22 46 80 3 45 139 20361
59 23 75 20 23 76 12 100 16501
60 23 29 53 76 10 47 120 12513
61 22 8 55 87 2 68 138 13165
62 22 49 42 53 24 42 122 17845
63 20 9 49 85 1 35 123 23485
64 20 32 50 80 1 27 121 9355
65 20 68 37 46 52 17 116 6518
66 20 60 56 78 2 49 121 5260
67 19 32 33 55 29 10 115 14343
68 19 1 52 55 12 33 130 8062
69 19 25 50 82 1 36 131 5620
70 18 56 54 71 10 39 139 4905
71 18 43 53 82 1 52 133 18245
72 18 14 45 79 5 37 126 7700
73 18 29 47 36 65 21 118 7847
74 18 39 50 78 6 32 135 8678
75 17 21 39 47 63 41 125 10720
76 17 34 20 35 67 9 96 10965
77 17 38 56 86 6 40 135 9784
78 16 66 43 70 1 25 129 8989
79 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 7810
80 16 33 52 68 6 41 127 7894
81 15 75 52 80 4 30 134 4330
82 14 51 51 81 2 47 137 6880
83 13 4 31 64 11 20 124 6222
84 13 19 47 58 17 18 120 6475
85 13 62 34 21 94 7 93 6067
86 12 36 47 87 0 55 113 7671
87 12 10 58 84 14 52 109 4597
88 12 11 46 84 2 39 121 8569
89 11 84 44 71 8 15 105 4915
90 10 61 60 77 17 36 121 3614
91 10 9 50 83 1 50 133 4135
92 9 42 29 47 33 17 127 3019
93 9 12 51 82 3 32 132 4417
94 9 10 36 46 40 21 104 3514
95 8 39 45 77 11 46 135 1864
96 8 2 30 88 4 34 159 11167
97 8 1 57 85 0 29 140 6881
98 8 62 45 57 33 27 125 2993
99 7 0 41 71 0 6 140 4340
100 7 0 38 93 1 38 124 2192
101 6 42 43 58 66 4 117 2830
102 6 0 41 78 0 27 135 4006
103 5 23 43 62 21 21 147 2398
104 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 902
105 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1815
106 5 43 37 56 45 51 114 1245
107 4 87 54 72 3 44 107 621
108 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1117
109 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3122
110 3 8 70 60 0 19 119 765
111 2 93 58 40 2 6 120 450
112 2 30 59 33 20 35 86 950
113 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 131
114 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 83
115 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2081
116 0 0 49 51 1 14 112 206
117 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 146
118 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28
119 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 86
120 0 2 36 67 1 22 177 31