Decline of the fade-out in popular music
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
Forum Name: Chat Board
Forum Description: Chat away but please observe the chat board rules
URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9066
Printed Date: 12 July 2025 at 8:57pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Decline of the fade-out in popular music
Posted By: Ringmaster_D
Subject: Decline of the fade-out in popular music
Date Posted: 15 March 2019 at 6:04am
|
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... |
Replies:
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 15 March 2019 at 6:09am
|
I also prefer fades, especially long ones.
Of course there's many more these days, but the first time I noticed a fade in years was with Bruno Mars "Treasure". Of course, he, like some other artists, are into retro. Another I can think of is "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk. I have noticed the trend of cold endings in the last couple of decades, and I somehow link it to an overall decrease in patience and attention span. To me, it indicates a harsher society. I equate fades as being gentle. ------------- |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 15 March 2019 at 1:48pm
|
I got a 404 not found in trying to read the article. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 15 March 2019 at 2:31pm
|
It's from the forum adding line breaks to the original post.
Try https://slate.com/culture/2014/09/the-fade-out-in-pop-music-why-dont-modern-pop-songs-end-by-slowly-reducing-in-volume.html - this ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 16 March 2019 at 7:49am
|
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! |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 16 March 2019 at 4:28pm
Actually, in a lot of cases it didn't...the musicians knew the song would have a fade-out, so once the song was essentially over, they just stopped playing, and let the producers deal with it. I heard an interview with Stevie Nicks many years ago, and she commented about how when Fleetwood Mac was getting ready to on tour (I think this was after "Rumours"), and they had to come up with endings for the songs to use in the shows. |
torcan wrote:Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 23 July 2021 at 11:07pm
|
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 |
Posted By: promojunkie
Date Posted: 24 July 2021 at 8:22am
|
Interesting topic. I've also noticed that pop songs are
getting shorter and shorter. I would venture to say the average pop song 30 years ago averaged around 4 minutes on the radio. Now they seem to average 3 minutes or under. And what is with the brick-walling in mastering these days? Even remastered hits from years past are brick-walled. The distortion is crazy. ------------- Rick |
Posted By: AdvprosD
Date Posted: 24 July 2021 at 9:03am
|
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. ------------- <Dave> Someone please tell I-Heart Radio that St. Louis is not known as The Loo! |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 25 July 2021 at 12:30pm
|
Many current and popular songs, as was mentioned, are much
shorter in length. The trend seemed to start around the time of the remix of "Old Town Road" which runs 2:35 or so. I've seen quite a few less than 2 minutes long. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 07 August 2021 at 3:21pm
|
Mark, I can think of a fairly recent hit that does fade - Justin Bieber's "Intentions". In fact, I'm so used to the sudden stop that the first time I heard the song, it sounded jarring :) ... well, at least, surprising ... that it didn't end cold!
As far as the shorter songs these days, I think it was quite before "Old Town Road". I remember Bazzi's "Mine" was just barely over 2 minutes. In any case, there's been many short songs the past 2 or 3 years. I remember in the '80s, it seemed the average length was probably 5 minutes. (Or at least, that length was quite common). Now, I'd bet the average is about 2:50 ... or maybe a bit longer. |