Decline of the fade-out in popular music

Hi all. Thought you would enjoy this article:

https://slate.com/culture/2014/09/the-fade-out-in-pop-
music-why-dont-modern-pop-songs-end-by-slowly-reducing-
in-volume.html

Having spent so much time re-creating single fades--and
not nearly as much time listening to hits of the 2000's-
-I guess I didn't realize this trend. Personally, I
enjoy a nice fade when it occurs at just the right point
in the song, implying that the music could go on and
on...

I got a 404 not found in trying to read the article.

I may be in the minority here, but I've always preferred
songs with cold endings. It bugged me a little that so
many songs faded out - I wanted to hear how it ends!

I remembered seeing this post a few years ago. I just
came by to comment that in the last 3 years I have not
heard ONE new song with a fade-out. Earlier this year I
put together a couple of CDR's for a friend. It was
about 40-50 requests for pop and Hot A/C hits from 2019
- 2021.

Two things I noticed.
One was that almost EVERY source was brick-walled to
DEATH...often to the point of distortion.
The 2nd thing was that not one song faded. Not only do
they all end cold, but in most the ending is very
abrupt. Like all music stops and ends on one word - all
within 1 second.

I guess this goes under the category of "modern pop
production playbook" which, at least as far as I can
tell, everyone is working from some modern instruction
"check-list" that now ALL producers work from. Use
plenty of pre-set loops common in all modern pop, use
plenty of auto-tune, and then take the finished result
and blast the levels so high as to remove all traces of
a final mix, because at the end, all elements IN the mix
are all at blasting levels.

So, working from the modern electro-type pop play-book,
no song will ever have a fade-out again.

Fascinating.

MM    

Back in the day, I used to enjoy songs that would end cold. I never really minded a good fade out, but it always seemed like they would always be getting to a really good
part in the song and then it started to fade. Cold endings didn't seem to be robbing me of a splendid guitar solo. Since I rarely listen to any new music these days, I might
see if I can find something interesting.

I always used to comment about ZZ Top as a band that could make some great rock, but couldn't figure out how to end a song to save their lives.