'''Synthie Pop''' (auch '''Synth-Pop''' oder '''Synthie-Pop''') bezeichnet eine in den 1970er Jahren aufgekommene Stilrichtung innerhalb der Popmusik, deren wesentliches Merkmal die Verwendung elektronischer Instrumente-Synthesizer als Stilelement ist. Hierbei sollten traditionelle Instrumente nicht einfach durch elektronische ersetzt werden (was schon durch die damals astronomischen Preise und Größe der Geräte undenkbar war), sondern man versuchte neue künstlerische Wege der Klanggestaltung und Stilschaffung zu gehen.

Neben Synthie-Pop werden auch die Begriffe Elektropop und Technopop verwendet, deren genaue Definition und Eingrenzung unterschiedlich diskutiert werden. Gemeint ist je nach musikalischem Schwerpunkt, eine mit synthetischer Klangerzeugung und/oder Samplern produzierte Popmusik. Dennoch wird nicht alle elektronisch erzeugte Popmusik automatisch Synthie Pop genannt. Siehe hierzu: Elektronische Popmusik.

== Geschichte ==
===Die Anfänge (1970-1978)===
Der Synthiepop ist ein - trotz erster Arbeiten von Terry Riley und Annette Peacock - im wesentlichen in Europa entstandener Stil. Schon die Bands der deutschen Krautrock-Welle Ende der 1960er Jahre experimentierten mit Synthesizern und elektronischen Effekten; die Ergebnisse waren allerdings meist zu experimentell, um sie als Popmusik bezeichnen zu können. Auch in England mehrten sich Anfang der 70er Jahre die Bands, die Synthesizer einsetzten (beispielsweise Emerson, Lake and Palmer oder Pink Floyd). Man muss jedoch anmerken, dass zu dieser Zeit elektronische Instrumente außergewöhnlich teuer waren und daher nicht für jede Band in Frage kamen.

Als erster wirklicher Elektropop-Hit wird die Single ''Popcorn'' von Kraftwerk, die zwar experimentell begonnen hatte, nach 1974 jedoch hauptsächlich eingängige Musik produzierte. Ihre Hits wie ''Autobahn'', ''Radioaktivität'' und ''Trans Europa Express'' machten die Band ebenso wie den neuartigen Musikstil international bekannt.

===Der "80er Pop" (1978-1995)===
Waren Synthesizer in den 70er Jahren aufgrund ihres Preises nur wenigen Spitzenverdienern unter den Musikern vorbehalten, so kamen Ende der 70er Jahre zunehmend (relativ) preiswertere und kompaktere Instrumente auf den Markt (v.a. der Hersteller Moog, Roland und Yamaha), die für einen größeren Kreis von Musikern erschwinglich wurden.

Die Folge war ein wahrer Boom von Synthesizer-Bands, die ihre Musik zunächst auf den ebenfalls in großer Zahl entstehenden Independent-Labels veröffentlichten. Viele dieser Bands beriefen sich eindeutig auf Kraftwerk, wobei aber ein Trend zu kompakteren, eingängigen und tanzbaren Songs erkennbar wurde. Als Vertreter dieser ersten großen Welle von Synthie-Interpreten (ca. 1978-82) wären u.a. OMD, Yazoo, New-Wave-Bewegung, entstanden Subkulturen wie die "New Romantics" oder "Futurists", denen viele Synthiepop-Bands (vor allem seitens der Musikpresse) zeitweise zugeordnet wurden. Aus dieser Zeit stammt auch der Begriff Synthpop bzw. Synthie Pop.

Mitte der 80er erreichte der Synth-Pop seinen kommerziellen Höhepunkt mit Hits wie "Big In Japan" von Alphaville, "People Are People" von Camouflage oder "Send Me An Angel" von Real Life. Mittels des sogenannten Samplings konnten nun aus kurzen Geräuschaufnahmen eindrucksvolle Musikstücke produziert werden.

Im Siegeszug der Techno-Bewegung wurde der Synth-Pop in den Untergrund zurückgedrängt. Dort führten vor allem Bands wie De/Vision, Second Decay oder Pitch Yarn of Matter den für die 1980er Jahre typischen Sound weiter. Mit dem Aufkommen immer leistungsstärkerer PCs ab Mitte der 1990er verschwanden die Keyboard-Synthesizer und Sampling-Maschinen zunehmend und somit auch allmählich der klassische Synth-Pop.

{{Infobox Music genre
|name=Synthpop
|bgcolor=silver
|color=black
|stylistic_origins=Electronic music<br/>New Wave<br/>Power pop<br/>Post-punk
|cultural_origins= Late 1970s/Early 1980s Germany, United Kingdom, United States
|instruments=Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler)
|popularity=Large, worldwide mostly during early to mid 1980s
|derivatives=Electroclash, Bubblegum pop, Ambient pop
|subgenrelist=List of electronic music genres
|subgenres=Electropop - Electroclash 
|fusiongenres=Futurepop - Synthpunk
|regional_scenes=
|other_topics=
}}
'''Synthpop''' is a subgenre of New Wave in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since. Kraftwerk (from Germany) and Yellow Magic Orchestra (from Japan) are often hailed as the pioneers of the style.

==Characteristics==
While most current popular music in the industrialized world is realized via electronic instruments, synthpop has its own stylistic tendencies which differentiate it from other music produced by the same means. These include the exploitation of artificiality (the synthesizers are not used to imitate acoustic instruments), the use of mechanical sounding rhythms, vocal arrangements as a counterpoint to the artificiality of the instruments, and song structures are generally the same as in other popular music.

==History==
===Influences===

Mid 20th Century avant-garde composers such as Yes, Genesis, Return to Forever, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Weather Report. Many Krautrock groups like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk heavily incoporated synthesizers into their music as well. The late 1970s Kraftwerk albums, such as ''Trans-Europe Express'' and ''The Man Machine'', were particularly influential in the creation of the Synthpop sound. 

The mid-1970s, saw the rise of Tomita, who were a significant influence of the development of Suicide, a duo from New York, combined vocals and keyboard in a harsh, avant-garde and often very controversial form. Italian producer Giorgio Moroder was also a significant influence on the further development of electronic music, producing synth driven hits for many artists, most notably Donna Summer.

===Late 1970s to mid 1980s===
<!-- thumb|150px|''Replicas'' by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army NOTE: I've commented the image out, because I'm fairly sure (but not positive) that it's in violation of fair use -->
In 1978, the self titled debut by the seminal Sparks on their album, ''No. 1 In Heaven''.

Synthpop continued to evolve in the early 1980s, often in a more radio friendly, pop direction thanks notably by the band Gary Numan's ''Vienna'' (1980), Dare'' (1981), Speak and Spell (1981), Landscape's ''Visage'' (1980), and former Ultravox singer John Foxx's ''Metamatic'' (1980) typified the early synthpop sound.  

The 1983 album ''Burning Bridges'' (released as ''Naked Eyes'' in the U.S.and Canada), by the group  PPG Wave) would become commonplace in the movement, eventually dying out as inexpensive digital samplers and eventually personal computers duplicated the capabilities of these machines.

Other key synthpop or synthpop-influenced groups and artists from the early-mid 1980s include Berlin, OMD, Alphaville, Howard Jones, Blancmange, Propaganda, Psyche, Real Life, The System, and even early Ministry.

===Late 1980s and onward===
In the United States, a backlash against the predominant styles of commercial pop in general, and synthesized music specifically, largely drove the Synthpop genre underground. Its fall in popularity may have been partially due to the increasing popularity of Hip hop beginning around 1986. Even fewer of the genre's 1980s acts were able to thrive commercially during the 1990s, as a new generation of radio DJs, video jockeys and record label representatives dismissed synthesiser-driven music as less visceral or artistic than the emerging styles of Grunge and Gangsta rap. Major American labels would no longer sign or support the synthesizer-oriented bands that had been popular in the 1980s. This would eventually change in the late 1990s.

However, in Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia, Synthpop remained more widely accepted, and artists from these regions, as well as American artists temporarily expatriated there, performing music with 1980s synthpop roots have remained popular, and acts such as  Ace of Base and Savage Garden have even spurred minor resurgences of the genre in the U.S. Eventually, the global synthpop scene re-emerged in the United States with the growing success of American record labels such as A Different Drum.
Synth-pop pioneers in Latin America during the 80s were Virus.

Some bands embraced by modern synthpop fans like Red Flag and Anything Box were dropped by their labels and began self-releasing new albums. Some Christian bands, such as Joy Electric, were influenced by formerly 1980s acts like Depeche Mode and Erasure. Low-fidelity synthpop artists Stephin Merritt and Ariel Pink have found success on independent labels.

While the Modern Synthpop scene is heavily centered in the United States, some of the popular bands to emerge in the genre, such as Blue October, The Nine, Spray, and Empire State Human. 

====A Different Drum====
Modern Synthpop as a genre was coalesced in the mid 1990s by the emergence of the Iris’s ''Disconnect''. ''Disconnect'' featured one of the few modern synthpop songs to be played at mainstream dance clubs, “Annie, Would I Lie To You.” In online discussions the band has said that several thousand copies of that album have been sold. 