2026 SCL Awards Nominations Released

Music and storytelling go together, shaping each other’s narratives, emotions, and audience perceptions. As a result, the best movies often have the best soundtracks as well, such as those on the 2026 SCL Awards nominations list.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists released its SCL Awards nominations for its seventh annual awards ceremony. These nominations are for all of their categories, including:

• Studio Film Score
• Independent Film Score
• Television Score
• Television Title Sequence
• Dramatic or Documentary Song
• Comedy or Musical Song
• Video Game Score
• Emerging Talent

They also released this year’s recipients of the achievement awards. Please continue reading to learn who these recipients are and when the SCL will present their awards.

7^th Annual SCL Awards Nominations Released for all Eight Categories

Film music hits different. You can’t separate movies, shows, and video games from their soundtracks. The strategic use of music and silence plays a crucial role in how we perceive and enjoy their stories, emotions, and cinematic experiences. The best soundtracks can even change our culture and how we see ourselves.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) exists to celebrate the interplay between music and storytelling. Serving as the Hollywood union for soundtrack musicians, the SCL does so by promoting the best film music makers of the year through an annual awards ceremony.

2026 marks the seventh year for the event, which will be held on February 6, 2026. To promote it, the SCL recently released its nominations for its eight award categories, as determined by the union’s member composers and songwriters. Many of these nominees also found themselves on the Oscars music shortlists.

Studio Film Score SCL Awards Nominations

Out of the four score categories, Studio Film is probably the most anticipated.

The Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film celebrates music explicitly made for major studio movies.

For this year, the award has six nominations:

• Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
• Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein
• Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another
• John Powell and Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good
• Max Richter – Hamnet
• Jerskin Fendrix – Bugonia

Independent Film Score Award Nominations

If you’re looking for something indie, you should check out the soundtracks that are up for the independent score award.

The Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film Award celebrates musical excellence in independent cinematography, including documentaries. Entrants are eligible if they had a budget under $20 million and had no major studio backer.

This year’s indie nominees are:

• Dara Taylor – Straw
• Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams
• David Fleming – Eternity
• Fabrizio Mancinelli – Out of the Nest
• Jónsi & Alex Somers – Rental Family
• Sara Barone & Forest Christenson – To Kill a Wolf

Television Score SCL Awards Nominations

While not as popular as movie soundtracks, television music has its own charm. SO, it’s not surprising that it has its own awards category.

The Television Score category is for music that was made specifically for television soundtracks, regardless of whether it was for a made-for-TV movie, series, or documentary. It’s also awarded per episode. So, a series can receive multiple nominations.

With that said, here are the SCL Awards nominations for Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production:

• Theodore Shapiro – Severance
• Antonio Sánchez – The Studio
• Brandon Roberts – Andor
• Dave Porter – Pluribus
• Cristóbal Tapia de Veer – The White Lotus
• David Fleming and Gustavo Santaolalla – The Last of Us

Television Title Sequence Award Nominations

While there are multiple awards for songs, only opening songs have their own SCL Awards category, Title Sequence. As you suspect, it’s open to songs specifically made to be opening songs for television series or movies.

The following title sequences are nominated for this year:

• Cristóbal Tapia de Veer – The White Lotus
• Carlos Rafael Rivera – Dept. Q
• Dave Porter – Pluribus
• Sean Callery – The Beast in Me
• Amanda Jones – Murderbot
• Jeff Beal – All Her Fault

Dramatic or Documentary Song SCL Awards Nominations

The other two SCL song categories are based on genre. For instance, the Dramatic or Documentary Song category is for any music that was used in a dramatic or documentary film, series, or video game, including ending songs.

The current dramatic or documentary song nominations are:

• Diane Warren – “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless
• Alice Smith, Miles Caton & Ludwig Göransson – “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” from Sinners
• Raphael Saadiq & Ludwig Göransson – “I Lied to You” from Sinners
• Sara Bareilles – “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from Come See Me in the Good Light
• Nikhil Koparkar & Rammy Park – “The Hills of Tanchico” from The Wheel of Time
• Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin & John Mayer – “Drive” from F1

Comedy or Musical Song Nominations

Comedy or Musical Song is the other SCL song category, which includes any comedy or musical film, including animation. The following six songs were nominated for it this year:

• Ejae & Mark Sonnenblick – “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters
• Stephen Schwartz – “No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good
• Stephen Schwartz – “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good
• Jack Black & Jared Hess – “Steve’s Lava Chicken” from A Minecraft Movie
• Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt & Jack Black – “I Feel Alive” from A Minecraft Movie
• Blake Slatkin, Shakira & Ed Sheeran – “Zoo” from Zootopia 2

Interactive Media Score SCL Award Nominations

Video Game Score is the last music category in the SCL Awards. It’s, of course, a celebration of music specifically made for a video game or any other type of interactive media. For this year, there are only four nominations for it.

• Austin Wintory – Sword of the Sea
• Gordy Haab – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of the Giants
• Wilbert Roget II, Cody Matthew Johnson & Jon Everist – Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune
• Maclaine Diemer – Wildgate

David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent Nominations

Emerging talent is the final voting SCL category. It’s for great musicians who didn’t receive a nomination for anything else, and I mean for anything else. That includes the other SCL categories, but it also means the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes shunned them.

Here are the current nominees for the award:

• Cameron Moody – Washington Black
• Chin-Shan Chang – Laws of Man
• Raashi Kulkarni – A Nice Indian Boy
• Greg Nicolett – Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches
• Freya Berkhout – Ride or Die
• Sarah Trevino – The Map That Leads You

Other SCL Awards Categories

In addition to the voting awards above, the SCL also gives out two types of lifetime achievement awards.

The SCL gives the Spirit of Collaboration award to composers and filmmakers who have worked together for most of their careers. This year, the award will go to Ludwig Göransson and director Ryan Coogler.

Other achievement award recipients for the year include:

• Stephen Schwartz and Charles Fox – Lifetime Achievement
• Ennio Morricone and Peggy Lee – Hall of Fame inductees
• Sara Bareilles and Steve Dorff – Ambassador and Trailblazer Awards
• Marsha Blackburn – Excellence in Advocacy

When Will The 7^th Annual SLC Awards Be Awarded?

The SCL will hold the 7^th Annual SLC Awards on February 6, 2026, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon will host the event, which will feature performances by Melissa Manchester. However, they haven’t revealed when or where they will air it.

Which Soundtracks Do You Want to Win?

I love that we have a soundtrack-only awards ceremony. If you love soundtracks as well, post the soundtracks you want to win SCL Awards in the comments.