Film Music Oscars - overview

oscar statue picture The Academy Awards idea originated in 1927-28 as a method for the film industry to recognise individual achievements within its ranks and at the same time do some self-promotion, the "Academy" being the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or AMPAS which originated the idea. The idea has progressed over the years, with different rules and methods developing over time but the basic premise is the same. There are a number of Awards for "Best Picture", "Best Director", etc. and films and the people involved go through a process of nomination. These days there are generally five official nominees for each Award, and the members of the Academy then vote to select a winner who receives a statuette known as an "Oscar" though the origin of the nickname is now uncertain. It was 1934 before film music was recognised with its own awards, and in the earlier years the winners in the music and other technical categories received a Plaque rather than the famous Statuette. But since 1946 there have been two or three statuettes awarded for music categories. Usually these are for "Original Score" or "Dramatic Score" and "Original Song" but often including a third award whose name has tended to change over the years for "Musical Score", "Music Adaptation", "Comedy Score" or similar.

Oscar Winners and Nominees:

For the main category of Original or Dramatic Score we list the winner first and then the nominations, and for the other Awards we currently list only the winner. The Oscars often have controversies over the relative artistic merit of the winners and losers and that issue extends to the film music awards also, but all the winners and nominees are generally deserving of recognition for their achievements:




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