The Oscars are near and the music categories are juicy!

The 98th Oscars is fast approaching with the world-famous movie awards ceremony taking place at The Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, California on March 15, 2026 starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT on ABC. Although the primary focus of the Oscars is movies, there are two categories for music in the Oscars. The first one is Music (Original Score) and the second one is Music (Original Song). They categories are stacked with good competitors, so let's dive in!

Best Original Score

The Best Original Score is always one that is tough every single year and this year is no exception. Here are the nominees:

BUGONIA

Jerskin Fendrix

FRANKENSTEIN

Alexandre Desplat

HAMNET

Max Richter

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Jonny Greenwood

SINNERS

Ludwig Goransson

All of these are super strong choices from the likes of Oscar Award winning composer Ludwig Goransson all the way to the creepy and moody soundtrack to Frankenstein by Alexandre Desplat. Any of these options are going to be a good choice for the win. I personally think that Ludwig Goransson is going to win because of the quality of Sinners soundtrack was phenomenal and Goransson has a history of winning. So I feel like it is leaning that way.

Best Original Song

The Best Original Song category brings in a lot of very unique and different songs/genres into the mix. Here are the nominees:

DEAR ME

from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

GOLDEN

from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park

I LIED TO YOU

from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson

SWEET DREAMS OF JOY

from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike

TRAIN DREAMS

from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave

Just like Best Original Score, all of these choices are super strong. But I think that one stands out from the rest.

"Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters is most likely going to win this category and I would be very shocked to see it not win. It has been on an absolutely dominant run through the awards season. "Golden" has already won the 2026 Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media, the 2026 Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and the 2026 Critics' Choice Award for Best Song. Usually if a particual song/actor/movie/artist wins a lot in awards shows leading up to the Oscars, it's usually a sign that they are going to win at The Oscars. Althought that is not always the case, I am still predicting that "Golden" is going to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

But, what do you think? Do you think that someone else is going to win in either category? Do you agree? Who do you want to win? Let us know in the comments down below!