The 2025 Academy Awards are already stirring controversy, particularly in the wake of the recent Golden Globes. The 2024 film Challengers took home the award for Best Feature-Length Film Score, a win that left many surprised. Fans of Wicked were especially vocal on social media, expressing outrage over Challengers’ victory. However, their frustration quickly revealed a common misunderstanding—many were confusing a film’s score (its original instrumental composition) with its soundtrack (a collection of pre-existing or vocal songs). This debate has reignited discussions about the role of music in film and how audiences perceive its impact.
Score is an incredibly important aspect of a film’s storytelling and creation of its atmosphere. For example, in the aforementioned film Challengers, the score, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is an electrifying and pulse-pounding blend of electronic and orchestral elements. It leans heavily into pulsating synths, distorted basslines, and hypnotic rhythms, creating a sense of tension and movement that mirrors the film’s high-stakes drama and emotional intensity. The music has a raw, almost physical energy, reinforcing the competitive nature of the film and the pure drama between each character. Without score, a film would be full of awkward silences. The addition of a score can also convey the mood or theme of a scene. A character could be shot with a blank expression on their face, but with the addition of sadder sounding music, that character can be perceived by the audience as melancholic.
Alternatively, Wicked faced high praise for its soundtrack specifically; An adaptation of the 2003 musical, based on Victor Flemming’s The Wizard of Oz. Wicked tells the story of the main antagonist of the Wizard of Oz, Elphaba, as her story twists her into the villain we see portrayed in the film. The importance of the soundtrack is much greater in a musical than other films, being the main medium of communication of the story and plot. Without the soundtrack Wicked would be an incomplete story. This isn’t to say that the soundtrack isn’t important in other films as well, particularly non-musicals. The 2017 film Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright, is an illustrious example of this concept, the high action packed music and the importance of music as a whole within its’ central plot allows for a creative and colorful mix of different tracks within its sound. The film follows a heist driver, named Baby, as he transports many criminals. He is very interested in music and refuses to drive without it. There are a few high stress scenes where he simply won’t drive because he can’t get his iPod working. Without the inclusion of this film’s soundtrack, the characterization would be lost and not communicated effectively.
Score and soundtrack in combination are a powerful tool in storytelling, the 2011 film Rio, is often regarded as an animated masterpiece, the soundtrack being undoubtedly one of the core reasons. Both aspects within the film’s sound utilize the sound to define the setting of Rio De Janeiro, making its score and soundtrack undeniably a pillar in setting the scene of the film!
In short, score and soundtrack couldn’t be more glaringly different, however they are best used in tandem when filmmaking as important tools in a filmmaker’s tool box to setting a story’s plot, setting, and characterization. The upcoming award season, particularly including the Grammy’s and Oscar’s, will be a hard contest between last year’s amazing scores and soundtracks!