Which sound is left at the very end? How 12 chart songs end

Leave a song playing to the very end, and the way its last sound disappears is different every time. From the 100 songs on the Bugs weekly chart for the last week of September (September 28–October 4), we measured the endings of 74: the ones we could get as audio tracks rather than music videos, with lengths matching the official running times. Looking at how long it takes from the last moment a song is still at about its usual loudness to complete silence, 21 songs take less than a second and 9 take more than 10 seconds. We picked 12 of them, split each into four strands (vocals, drums, bass and the rest of the backing) and noted which sound stops when. Times follow the audio tracks, so the music videos may end a little differently.

At a glance

Song	Ends at	Last sound
'APT.'	2:48	All four stop within 0.2 seconds
'Whiplash'	3:01	All four stop together
'Drowning'	4:03	All four cut off together
'BAD'	2:33	Bass drops 2 seconds early, the rest stop together
'Endangered Love'	3:38	Vocals first, backing 1.5 seconds later
'Lemon Tang'	2:41	Vocals alone for 1.3 seconds
'Less than a Lover'	2:23	Vocals alone for 4 seconds
'Pop Off Pop Off'	2:19	Vocals alone for 7 seconds
'Episode'	3:23	Backing alone for 13 seconds
'You Were Beautiful'	4:42	Backing alone for 16 seconds
'Popcorn'	2:59	19 seconds without drums and bass
'For Lovers Who Hesitate'	4:25	All four fade over 25 seconds

Endings where everything stops at once

2:48 · ROSÉ & Bruno Mars 'APT.'

Vocals, drums, bass and the rest of the backing all stop between 2:47.6 and 2:47.8, within 0.2 seconds of each other. After that, the track runs on for a little over 2 seconds of complete silence. It came out in October 2024. Apple Music

3:01 · aespa 'Whiplash'

At 2:46, about 15 seconds before the end, the drums and bass drop out for 4 seconds and come back at 2:50. The song then runs straight for 11 seconds, and all four strands stop together at 3:01. It's the title track of the fifth mini album, released in October 2024. Apple Music

4:03 · WOODZ 'Drowning'

From 3:29, the drums and bass drop out for about 15 seconds, leaving only vocals and backing. Both come back together at 3:45, the full sound goes on for another 18 seconds, and then every sound cuts off at once at 4:03. The song is from the April 2023 album 'OO-LI'. Instead of a music video, we've attached a live clip from WOODZ's official channel. Apple Music

2:33 · ATEEZ 'BAD'

The bass drops out first at 2:31, and 2 seconds later, at 2:33, the drums, vocals and the rest of the backing stop together. Ahead of the end, the song clears out the low end first. Apple Music

3:38 · LEE CHANHYUK 'Endangered Love (멸종위기사랑)'

The vocals end first at 3:36.5, and 1.5 seconds later, at 3:38, the backing stops all at once. The song is from the July 2025 album 'EROS'. Apple Music

Endings where the voice is last

2:41 · Hearts2Hearts 'Lemon Tang'

The three backing strands stop together at 2:40, and only the vocals carry on for 1.3 more seconds before ending at 2:41. It's the song the June mini album 'Lemon Tang' is named after. Apple Music

2:23 · JENNIE 'Less than a Lover'

The bass and drums drop out at 2:17, and the rest of the backing follows at 2:19. The last 4 seconds or so end on JENNIE's voice alone. It's a single released on July 24, and the lead photo is a scene from its music video. Apple Music

2:19 · KiiiKiii 'Pop Off Pop Off'

The drums, bass and the rest of the backing drop out together at 2:12, leaving only the vocals for 7 seconds until 2:19. Of the 12 songs, this is the ending where the voice holds on alone the longest. It's the title track of the EP 'WhyKiiiKiii', released on August 10. Apple Music

Endings where the backing is last

3:23 · LEE MU JIN 'Episode (에피소드)'

The bass ends at 3:08 and the vocals at 3:10. For the next 13 seconds only the remaining backing carries on, until it goes out at 3:23. Apple Music

4:42 · DAY6 'You Were Beautiful (예뻤어)'

At 4:26, the vocals, drums and bass end almost together, within 0.6 seconds. The remaining backing carries on alone for 13 seconds until 4:39 and disappears completely at 4:42. The song came out in February 2017. Apple Music

2:59 · D.O. 'Popcorn'

The drums and bass drop out together at 2:40. The vocals keep singing for another 14 seconds and end at 2:54, and the backing rings on for a few more seconds before disappearing at 2:59. The song is from the third mini album 'BLOSSOM', released in April 2024. Apple Music

Endings where everything fades slowly together

4:25 · JANNABI 'For Lovers Who Hesitate (주저하는 연인들을 위해)'

Of the 12 songs, this is the only one where all four strands slowly get quieter together. From around 4:00, the sound shrinks little by little over 25 seconds, and the vocals drop out first at 4:19. The backing disappears at 4:25. This is exactly the kind of "fade-out" you used to hear all the time on the radio. The song is on the second full album '전설' ('Legend'), released in March 2019. Apple Music

The story of how this year's songs tend to be shorter is in our October 7 list, and the songs that change key near the end are in our October 11 list.