Many pop songs destined for radio airplay include both an instrumental intro and an instrumental fadeout, referred to as an intro and an outro in the entertainment industry. A well-produced outro brings the song to a satisfying conclusion, making the listener’s transition to the next song’s intro less jarring. Instead of simply fading out, a song, especially a classical piece or a vintage standard, may include a definitive tag or extro. A tag or outro, for example, would be the “shave and a haircut” ending to barbershop quartet music.
The outro of a pop song gives the DJ enough time to announce the song’s or artist’s name, identify the station, and/or introduce the next song with a sound bed. Long outros with extended guitar solos and a gradual fade are featured in some songs, such as the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Other songs, like the Romantics’ “What I Like About You,” end abruptly, creating a “cold outro” effect. Cold intros and outros may necessitate the use of on-air patter or a pre-recorded musical jingle the disc jockey.
An outro usually comes after a pop song’s final chorus, and it may or may not keep the song’s opening structure. The gospel-tinged verses and choruses of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s anthem “Freebird” are more of a twin lead guitar jam played at a faster tempo than the extended outro. Cream’s magnum opus “Badge” concludes with a piano-and-guitar duel that repeats and expands on the piano riff heard throughout the song.
Other outros are created during the editing process rather than during the performance. The outro to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is a gradual fade-out of the band and others repeating the simple but effective “nah nah nah, NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NA The song could have gone on until everyone passed out from exhaustion because the performers were in such a groove. Instead, fading the song out at its peak, the engineers created a more radio-friendly outro.
Although not all songs require or even have extended outros, many songwriters are aware of the needs of the broadcast industry and strive to provide a satisfying conclusion that will flow into the next song on the radio or at a dance party.