Slate, from a few years ago:
The fade-out—the technique of ending a song with a slow decrease in volume over its last few seconds—became common in the 1950s and ruled for three decades. Among the year-end top 10 songs for 1985, there’s not one cold ending.
Fadeouts are gone from popular music.
Advances in technology played a big part in the rise of the fade-out. Electrical recording emerged in the 1920s, allowing studio engineers to increase or decrease amplification. And achieving the effect became even easier when magnetic tape recording became widely available in the ’40s and ’50s. Many early fade-outs were added simply because engineers were short on time: To meet the demands of radio, or the limited runtime of one side of a vinyl single, they had to make the record fade out early.
And:
Done right, the fade-out is a song’s parting gift to the attentive listener. “Thanks for staying ’til the end,” it says. “Here’s a little somethin’ for ya.”
But what caused the fade-out to, well, fade out?
Let’s shift our accusatory fingers, then, to the iPod. That’s where our itchy thumbs have been stationed since Apple introduced the device in 2001. With a mere depression of the fast-forward button to get to the next tune, why wait out those last dwindling seconds?
This is a fascinating read. Especially the examples where little easter eggs are hidden in the lower volumes of the fade.
[H/T Brother Stu]
I thought the fade out was used as a method for DJ’s to begin talking while the song is still ending.
Eh, I always thought the fade-out was a cop-out to not have to write an ending.
More realistically, I’m sure allowing DJ’s and TV hosts to come in and talk while the song isn’t quite done was more the motive. To accomodate a bit of time editing on TV/Radio broadcasts by cutting a few extra seconds off the end. Also to allow the bleed over of DJ’s or the next song to make taping off the radio less attractive an option as opposed to actually buying an album.
Funny, just yesterday I hit one of those Easter Eggs. As Kristin Hersh’s “Summer Salt” fades out, one of the singers stops the “la, la” and says “Isn’t there a machine for this?” That’s on Sunny Border Blue, 2001. Great album.
“Eh, I always thought the fade-out was a cop-out to not have to write an ending.”
I had the same thought. But fade-outs always bugged me.
But then again. Some rock bands have the same ending to all songs.
Rage Against the Machine’s “Sleep now in the fire” had a great fade out. It was Tom Morello’s guitar accidentally picking up a Korean radio station. They left that in at the end as the fade out.
“Eh, I always thought the fade-out was a cop-out to not have to write an ending.”
I always thought that as well.
A DJ can fade a song themselves, even smack dab in the middle. They have faders, too. At this point, a fadeout is a style choice. Maybe they indeed couldn’t write an ending (not that hard), or they tried and an ending didn’t feel right (more likely), or they wanted the song to feel like it goes on forever.
The worst thing I hear now is when a song just stops at the end of a section, hanging notes and all. Copy, paste, let it play out, done, let’s get Thai food. Musicians: You can, at the very least, add the downbeat of the next bar, just that first 16th, maybe just kick and bass, to properly resolve. Do.. something. Don’t leave us hanging like you gave zero shits.
So true. LCD Sound System and Chicago, among others, immediately come to mind.
The Beatles song Doctor Robert fades out but there’s a real ending as it fades to nothing. Incidentally, the next song, I Want To Tell You, begins with the oh-so-rare fade-in.
This. See, e.g., “Space Cowboy”, a song I otherwise love.
Me, I prefer an ending in the old-school fashion, where there’s a musically distinctive ending, not just a fadeout.
(This is ubiquitous in metal, where nobody uses fadeouts to speak of.
Symphonic compositions don’t seem to ever just keep playing while fading out, either.)
Depends on the genre and composer.
The fade out is a cop out. Plus this article is four years old; streaming music is changing a lot (such as reducing the length of song intros).