Why More Pop Songs Should End With A Fade Out

The fade out is underrated. It should come back.

The fade out in music is one of those necessary tools in a record producers arsenal. But if you listen to today’s hits it’s much more likely you’ll hear a song that has a hard abrupt electronic ending. Bill Weir, wrote a great piece at Slate a few years ago tracking the rise and fall of the fade out in pop music: from one of the very first fade outs created by a literal wooden door to the epic 4 minute fade out of “Hey Jude.” In the video above he brings me through that sonic journey.