The fade out is one of the oldest editing tricks in recorded music, created by slowly lowering the fader on a mixing desk while a song ends instead of stopping it suddenly. It became a standard ending for pop and rock tracks on radio, then carried over to film, television and home video editing. As digital editors made the effect a simple drag-and-drop preset, creators online adopted it for memes, vlogs and short clips where a clean, gradual ending feels more professional than a hard cut.