[synthpop]

Any attempt to hold music by some metric of purity ('real'ness) is always bound to be reductive and rather joyless imo. Surely there has to be 'classic' artists or genres that you've enjoyed at one time or another. Leverage the existing knowledge or potential curiosities that are within that pallette, and explore the rabbit hole a little deeper. Go back to your favorite tunes and look beyond just the name on the box. (Who are the performers/producers on that great album I spun endlessly back in the day? What other works have they been a part? Did they ever namedrop other artists in old interviews? Who'd they tour with? What other stuff did their label put out? etc. This can be repeated endlessly with every new name you come across that piques your interest. Rateyourmusic, Discogs and Wikipedia are probably good starting points to reference this info.)

I think anyone could likely find a trove of new (to you, at least) content by simply digging a bit outside of their comfort zone to try genres that are totally alien to your ears, like Avant Garde Jazz or Krautrock or Experimental music, just for example. Or by finding a genre you know you like, then exploring the likely myriad subgenres which emerged years later or are developing right now under its influence. A lot of the most satisfying things in life won't be fed to you, so the most important thing is to just keep an open mind and appreciate that although certain things may not click right away, it may not be worth writing off entirely. An important aspect of appreciating contemporary music is being aware of the cultural canon from which it was born and finds itself released within. I find that being able to connect some dots in one way or another between older and more contemporary artists/releases/genres will yield a greater appreciation of what's happening today. Applies to all forms of art, really.