Soundtrack music is the heart and soul of storytelling. It shapes how we emotionally respond to movies, games, and television shows. The 2026 SCL winners are a testament to that.
The Society of Composers & Lyricists celebrated them at its seventh annual awards ceremony on February 6, 2026. These 2026 SCL Awards winners are:
Keep reading to learn more about the winners and the competition.
The interplay between music and silence defines how we enjoy, relate to, and experience our favorite television shows, movies, and video games. The best soundtracks can even change our culture and how we see ourselves.
Hollywood union for soundtrack musicians, the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) exists to celebrate the role of music in storytelling. It does this through an annual awards show that honors the best film music from the previous year.
This year, the SCL held its seventh event on February 8, 2026, crowning champions in its eight award categories.
Ludwig Göransson won the Outstanding Original Studio Film Score SCL Award for the Sinners soundtrack. The award celebrated feature film soundtracks from the major studios. I was hoping that the award went to another film, but Sinners is the darling of Hollywood. SO, I understand why it won.
For this record, the award had six nominations:
The Outstanding Independent Film Score category celebrates the indie scene. This year, Bryce Dessner won it for Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams.
This year’s indie nominees were:
The Outstanding Television Score SCL Award went to Theodore Shapiro for the Second Season of Apple TV’s Severance. It may not be as popular as the film soundtracks, but the television score category rarely disappoints.
Here were the nominees:
I’ve seen better, but Cristobal Tapia de Veer won the Outstanding Television Title Sequence SCL Award for HBO’s The White Lotus Season 3 theme music.
Here were the nominees:
As you might have expected, Sinners bagged the Outstanding Dramatic or Documentary Song as well. The film had two songs in the running, even though only one could win. As a result, the award went to Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson for their song “I Lied to You”.
Here were the nominees:
Kpop Demon Hunters was the animation rep among the 2026 SCL Award Winners. The award went to Huntr/x for their song “Golden”. I don’t know what makes it a comedy song. However, the SCL merged the musical and comedy categories, so it is.
This was the competition:
The SCL crowned Sword of the Sea as the most Outstanding Score for a Video Game. Austin Wintory accepted the award for the game, which works, I guess.
Here was the competition:
The SCL felt that Ching-Shan Chang was too underrated. So, they made her the 2026 SCL Award winner for the David Raskin Award for Emerging Talent. The award is given to young soundtrack musicians who weren’t nominated for any other award category, including those from other institutions.
These were the nominees:
These are the lifetime achievement 2026 SLC Awards winners:
Soundtrack music is severely underrated, especially at awards shows. Luckily, we film music enthusiasts have the annual SCL Awards. This year’s winners offer something for every musical taste. As such, they deserved the recognition.
What do you think? Post your thoughts in the forums or comments below.
Copy and paste this URL into your WordPress site to embed
Copy and paste this code into your site to embed
