New Wave
New wave is the catchy, synth- and guitar-driven pop and rock that followed punk in the late 1970s and dominated the early 1980s.
It kept punk's energy and short songs but added pop melodies, synthesizers, dance rhythms, a quirky sense of humor and a bold visual style. It began in the United States and United Kingdom and spread worldwide with the rise of MTV. It is brighter and more commercial than post-punk, which came out of the same moment but pushed toward darker, more experimental music.
Artists it is known for: Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo, The Cars.
- Family
- Alternative & Indie
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United States and United Kingdom, late 1970s
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 16%
About 14,000 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have new wave among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
New Wave artists
The Smiths
The Cure
Cocteau Twins
Depeche Mode
Tears For Fears
Duran Duran
Talking Heads
New Order
Blondie
Joy Division
The new wave artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.