About three in five of the 581 listed releases dated 2026 are vaporwave-family, according to the Frekvenci archive's 18 October snapshot. This page is a rolling snapshot, updated as the archive fills in, and 2026 is a part year: every number below will grow, and none of it is a comparison with a full year.
The shape so far
The archive holds 581 releases from 356 artists on 182 labels, and 81 are self-released. By format, 339 are albums (LPs), 100 singles, 77 EPs, 21 compilations and 7 mixes.
SHOW THE NUMBERS
| Family | Releases |
|---|---|
| Vaporwave | 352 |
| Synthwave | 128 |
| Popwave | 57 |
| Darksynth | 26 |
| Dreamwave | 18 |
Vaporwave leads with 352 releases, then synthwave with 128, popwave with 57, darksynth with 26 and dreamwave with 18. Across the whole archive vaporwave is also the larger family, with 10,473 releases against 8,105 for synthwave. Because the 2026 count runs only to 18 October, and recent months are filled in slowly, we do not set it beside last year's full total.
SHOW THE NUMBERS
| Year | Releases |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,878 |
| 2017 | 1,925 |
| 2018 | 2,448 |
| 2019 | 2,281 |
| 2020 | 2,597 |
| 2021 | 2,238 |
| 2022 | 1,809 |
| 2023 | 1,746 |
| 2024 | 1,718 |
| 2025 | 1,599 |
| 2026 | 581 |
Which tags carry the volume
Among 2026 releases, barber beats is the most common tag (158), then synthwave (112), signalwave (82), synth-pop (49), slushwave (34) and vaporwave (32). Darkwave has 24. These are community tags, applied unevenly, and a release can carry several. For the styles behind them, see the What is barber beats? The vaporwave micro-genre named after one prolific artist and the What is vaporwave? A guide to the internet's slowed-down mall music.
Country is known for 58%. The United States leads with 149, then Canada (25), Serbia (21), France (18), Spain (16) and the United Kingdom (14). Compare with the scene pages for Synthwave in the USA: the biggest scene in the archive, Canadian synthwave: Le Matos, Miami Nights 1984 and more and French synthwave: from French touch to darksynth. And 157 artists have their first listed release in 2026, a measure of new names in the archive and not of new musicians.
Labels and names
Valkyrie Tapes has the most 2026 releases, 15 of its 35 listed. Then DMT Tapes FL with 10 (of 1,192 overall), Kralle Records with 8 of 9, and Gorgeous Lights, Hitachi Home Video and RetroSynth Records with 6 each. Pasco Zone has 5, all of its listed releases. Bandcamp Daily said the DMT Tapes FL imprint reached its 1,000th release in September 2021, and it is still releasing.[4]
The artists with the most 2026 releases are mostly prolific vaporwave and barber-beats acts: undersaken (21), Giovanni Scorpio (14), known artiste (12), then The Pilots and Van House with 11 each.
Records from the year's news
Carpenter Brut's Leather Temple was announced for 27 February 2026 through No Quarter Prod and Virgin Records, as the last part of a Leather trilogy that began with Leather Teeth in 2018 and Leather Terror in 2022. Moshville says it moves from the earlier 80s focus towards a saturated 90s electro sound.[1][2] The archive lists Leather Temple; the artist's neighbours are on If you like Carpenter Brut: artists to try next. The label Rosso Corsa Records lists Lords of Netscape by Miami Nights 1984 among its latest releases on its own site,[3] and the archive lists a 2026 EP from the same artist, DISK 1.
The French scene also lost one of its best-known names. France 24 reported on 29 July 2026 that Kavinsky, whose real name was Vincent Belorgey, had been found dead at his home in Paris, aged 50.[5] His records remain in the archive; start with If you like Kavinsky: artists to try next.
Ten records from 2026
Chosen to reach across the families, one per artist; where we describe sound, it comes from the tags.
- Carpenter Brut · 2026 · No Quarter Prod · LPThe album that closes the Leather trilogy, described by Moshville as darker and more industrial.
- Miami Nights 1984 · 2026 · Rosso Corsa Records · EPA 2026 EP tagged outrun from the Rosso Corsa co-founder.
- Makeup and Vanity Set · 2026 · Twelve Trees Soundworks · LPA synthwave album from one of the archive's most prolific American acts.
- IAMDEVIL · 2026 · Bad Monster Black Productions · LPA synthwave album on Bad Monster Black Productions.
- Anatoly Cherdenko · 2026 · VILL4IN · EPA retrowave EP on VILL4IN, one of the year's debut artists.
- 2900 Parkway Boulevard · 2026 · DMT Tapes FL · LPA signalwave album from DMT Tapes FL, the year's second most active label.
What's next
This page will be updated as the archive fills in the last months of 2026. The Synthwave list is the place for earlier years' full counts, and Rosso Corsa Records: label profile and where to start covers a label that is still adding records.
Sources
- Carpenter Brut unveils 'Leather Temple', the final chapter of the Leather trilogy · Moshville, Jan 2026
- Carpenter Brut Announces New Album Leather Temple For February 2026 Release · mxdwn, 11 Jan 2026
- Rosso Corsa Records (label website) · Rosso Corsa Records · accessed 20 Oct 2026
- The Tape Label Report, October 2021 · Bandcamp Daily, 21 Oct 2021
- French DJ Kavinsky found dead in Paris home · France 24, 29 Jul 2026