Forward of the 2026 Oscars, The Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences has revealed its shortlists for nominees in a number of classes, together with Finest Unique Track and Finest Unique Rating. Amongst this yr’s shortlisted artists are 9 Inch Nails, Nick Cave, and the recording artists behind the Pop Tradition Occasion of the 12 months, KPop Demon Hunters.
For Finest Unique Track, 65 songs had been eligible for nomination this yr. Now shortened to a number of 15 songs, the listing contains the large 2025 hit “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters’ fictional lady group HUNTR/X, which we named as among the best songs of the yr.
For the second yr in a row, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross seem on the shortlists for each Finest Unique Track and Finest Unique Rating. This time, nevertheless, it’s for his or her work as 9 Inch Nails (our Reside Act of the 12 months) on the latest TRON: Ares movie, with “As Alive As You Want Me” showing on the Finest Unique Track shortlist.
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Two movies obtained a couple of itemizing for Finest Unique Track on this yr’s shortlist: The pair of recent songs from Depraved: For Good, “No Place Like Dwelling” (sung by Cynthia Erivo) and “The Lady within the Bubble” (sung by Ariana Grande) obtained nods, whereas two authentic tracks from Sinners, “I Lied to You” and “Final Time (I Seen The Solar),” made the listing.
Elsewhere within the Finest Unique Track choices are: Nick Cave for his tune “Practice Goals” from the movie of the identical title; Miley Cyrus for “Dream As One,” her contribution to the brand new movie Avatar: Hearth and Ash; Kesha for “Expensive Me,” a monitor from Diane Warren: Stressed; Sara Bareilles for “Salt Then Bitter Then Candy” from Come See Me within the Good Gentle; and Billy Idol and J. Ralph for his or her tune “Dying to Reside,” which seems in Idol’s new documentary, Billy Idol Ought to Be Lifeless. Take a look at the complete shortlist for the 2026 Oscar for Finest Unique Track beneath.
Within the Finest Unique Rating class, 20 scores had been shortlisted out of a complete of 132 eligible movies. Among the many highlights are the aforementioned 9 Inch Nails for TRON: Ares; Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After One other; Jerskin Fendrix for Bugonia; Ludwig Göransson for Sinners; Daniel Lopatin (A.Okay.A. Oneohtrix Level By no means) for Marty Supreme; Bryce Dessner for Practice Goals; Hildur Guðnadóttir for Hedda; and Hans Zimmer for F1. See the complete shortlist for Finest Unique Rating beneath.
The 98th Academy Awards will happen on March fifteenth, 2026, with Conan O’Brien returning as host. The complete listing of nominations might be introduced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
See the place many of those motion pictures landed in our Finest Movies of 2025 listing, and skim our Composers of the 12 months interview spotlighting authentic scoring and soundtrack contributions from IDLES, Son Lux, and extra.
Finest Unique Track Shortlist:
“As Alive As You Want Me To Be” from Tron: Ares — 9 Inch Nails, Boys Noize
“Expensive Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless — Kesha
“Dream As One” from Avatar: Hearth and Ash — Miley Cyrus
“Drive” from F1 — Ed Sheeran
“Dying To Reside” from Billy Idol Ought to Be Lifeless — Billy Idol, J. Ralph
“The Lady In The Bubble” from Depraved: For Good — Ariana Grande
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters — HUNTR/X
“Highest 2 Lowest” from Highest 2 Lowest — Aiyana-Lee
“I Lied To You” from Sinners — Miles Caton
“Final Time (I Seen The Solar)” from Sinners — Alice Smith, Miles Caton
“No Place Like Dwelling” from Depraved: For Good — Cynthia Erivo
“Our Love” from The Ballad of Wallis Island — Tom Badsen, Carey Mulligan
“Salt Then Bitter Then Candy” from Come See Me within the Good Gentle — Sara Bareilles
“Candy Goals Of Pleasure” from Viva Verdi! — Nicholas Pike, Ana María Martínez
“Practice Goals” from Practice Goals — Nick Cave
Finest Unique Rating Shortlist:
Avatar: Hearth and Ash — Simon Franglen
Bugonia — Jerskin Fendrix
Captain America: Courageous New World — Laura Karpman
Diane Warren: Relentless — Lesley Barber
F1 — Hans Zimmer
Frankenstein — Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet — Max Richter
Hedda — Hildur Guðnadóttir
A Home of Dynamite — Volker Bertelmann
Jay Kelly — Nicholas Britell
Marty Supreme — Daniel Lopatin
Nuremberg — Brian Tyler
One Battle After One other — Jonny Greenwood
Sinners — Ludwig Göransson
Sirât — Kangding Ray
Practice Goals — Bryce Dessner
Tron: Ares — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Reality and Treason — Aaron Zigman
Wake Up Lifeless Man: A Knives Out Thriller — Nathan Johnson
Depraved: For Good — John Powell, Stephen Schwartz
