Soundtrack encompasses music composed specifically for visual media—films, television, video games, and theater—where sound serves narrative, emotion, and atmosphere in tandem with moving images. Born from cinema's earliest days, when silent films employed live orchestras, the genre evolved through Golden Age Hollywood orchestrations, synth-driven '80s scores, and today's genre-blurring collaborations. Unlike instrumental music created for standalone listening, soundtracks exist in dialogue with plot and character: a love theme underscores a first kiss, dissonant strings foreshadow danger, while a single leitmotif can define an entire franchise. This functional origin doesn't diminish artistry—composers like Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, and John Williams craft works that transcend their source material, using full orchestras, electronic textures, or hybrid approaches to achieve what pure pop or rock cannot: music engineered to manipulate time, heighten suspense, and embed itself in cultural memory.
What distinguishes soundtrack from its neighbors is purpose and context. While sharing tools with electronic, rock, or orchestral instrumental music, soundtrack compositions prioritize emotional synchronization over song structure or dancefloor functionality. They may borrow pop's accessibility (think Lana Del Rey's cinematic ballads adapted for film) or electronic's synthetic landscapes (Vangelis's Blade Runner), but always filtered through a director's vision. Musical theater soundtracks add theatrical narrative and lyrical storytelling, yet film scores often forego vocals entirely to remain unobtrusive yet unforgettable.
From sweeping epics (Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings) to minimalist dread (Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream), soundtracks offer a masterclass in how music shapes perception. Listen to discover how composers like Ramin Djawadi or Alexandre Desplat turn two hours of footage into timeless emotional architecture—proof that the best film music lives far beyond the credits.
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List updated:
| #85 | ByMiles Davis | Released:1958-01-01 | |||
| #95 | BySimon & Garfunkel | Released:1968-01-21 | |||
| #37 | ByThe Beatles | Released:1969-01-13 | |||
| #72 | ByPink Floyd | Released:1969-06-13 | |||
| #83 | ByNino Rota | Released:1972-03-15 | soundtrackclassical | ||
| #58 | ByBernard Herrmann | Released:1976 | |||
| #82 | ByVarious Artists | Released:1977 | soundtrackpop | ||
| #11 | ByBlondie | Released:1980-02 | soundtrack | ||
| #4 | ByPrince | Released:1982-12-04 | |||
| #62 | ByDavid Bowie | Released:1986-01-01 | soundtrack | ||
| #65 | ByQueen | Released:1986-03-17 | |||
| #61 | ByVarious Artists | Released:1988 | soundtrack | ||
| #46 | ByAngelo Badalamenti | Released:1990-08-31 | |||
| #20 | ByMadonna | Released:1991 | soundtrack | ||
| #75 | ByVangelis | Released:1994-06-07 | |||
| #35 | ByVarious Artists | Released:1997-11-14 | |||
| #99 | ByAerosmith | Released:1998-07-29 | |||
| #71 | ByPhilip Glass | Released:1998-10-19 | |||
| #53 | ByFugazi | Released:1999-03-23 | |||
| #32 | ByAir | Released:2000-02-25 | |||
| #64 | ByBjörk | Released:2000-08-30 | |||
| #6 | ByA.R. Rahman | Released:2000 | soundtrackworld | ||
| #33 | ByJoe Hisaishi | Released:2000 | classicalsoundtrack | ||
| #87 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2001-01-01 | soundtrack | ||
| #40 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2001-05-08 | |||
| #55 | ByYann Tiersen | Released:2001 | soundtrack | ||
| #92 | ByJohn Williams | Released:2001 | |||
| #43 | ByAurora | Released:2001 | soundtrack | ||
| #100 | ByKlaus Badelt | Released:2003-07-22 | soundtrack | ||
| #17 | ByCounting Crows | Released:2004-01-01 | soundtrack | ||
| #84 | ByKimya Dawson | Released:2004 | soundtrackfolk | ||
| #93 | ByHannah Montana | Released:2006-01-11 | |||
| #31 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2006-02-28 | soundtrack | ||
| #41 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2006-06-20 | soundtrack | ||
| #19 | ByTenacious D | Released:2006-09-26 | |||
| #66 | ByClint Mansell | Released:2006-11-21 | soundtrack | ||
| #45 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2007-01-01 | |||
| #26 | ByEddie Vedder | Released:2007-09-04 | |||
| #34 | ByGlee Cast | Released:2009-11-03 | |||
| #44 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | soundtrack | ||
| #63 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | |||
| #79 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | |||
| #89 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | |||
| #59 | ByEminem | Released:2009 | |||
| #60 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2010-01-01 | |||
| #86 | ByTwo Steps from Hell | Released:2010-05-03 | soundtrack | ||
| #50 | ByHans Zimmer | Released:2010-07-09 | soundtrackambient | ||
| #51 | ByTrent Reznor and Atticus Ross | Released:2010-09-17 | |||
| #28 | ByDaft Punk | Released:2010-12-06 | |||
| #88 | ByGlee Cast | Released:2011-04-19 | |||
| #23 | ByVictorious Cast | Released:2011-08-02 | soundtrackteen pop | ||
| #18 | ByThe Weeknd | Released:2011 | |||
| #10 | ByRihanna | Released:2012-06-19 | soundtrack | ||
| #5 | ByAdele | Released:2012-10-05 | |||
| #14 | ByM83 | Released:2012-11-23 | soundtrack | ||
| #90 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2012 | soundtrack | ||
| #70 | ByGustavo Santaolalla | Released:2013-06-07 | soundtrackfolk | ||
| #42 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2014-02-11 | soundtrack | ||
| #24 | ByCharli XCX | Released:2014-04-16 | |||
| #8 | ByLorde | Released:2014-09-30 | |||
| #3 | BySelena Gomez | Released:2014-11-06 | popsoundtrack | ||
| #12 | ByJosé González | Released:2014-12-02 | soundtrack | ||
| #77 | ByLondon Music Works | Released:2015-02-17 | soundtrack | ||
| #39 | ByToby Fox | Released:2015-09-15 | |||
| #9 | BySam Smith | Released:2015-10-30 | soulsoundtrack | ||
| #73 | ByTaylor Swift | Released:2015 | |||
| #80 | ByGlen Hansard | Released:2016-04-16 | |||
| #13 | ByRegina Spektor | Released:2016-09-22 | soundtrack | ||
| #96 | ByHans Zimmer | Released:2016-10-12 | soundtrack | ||
| #16 | ByJustin Hurwitz | Released:2016-12-16 | |||
| #68 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2017-02-10 | soundtrack | ||
| #30 | BySteven Universe | Released:2017-06-02 | |||
| #56 | ByJohn Paesano | Released:2017-07-19 | soundtrackelectronic | ||
| #91 | ByDan Salvato | Released:2017-09-22 | |||
| #47 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2017-12-04 | soundtrack | ||
| #81 | ByArcade Fire | Released:2017 | ambientsoundtrack | ||
| #97 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2018-01-19 | soundtrackmusical | ||
| #38 | BySIX | Released:2018-08-31 | soundtrackmusical | ||
| #27 | ByLady Gaga | Released:2018-10-05 | |||
| #29 | ByLady Gaga | Released:2018-10-05 | |||
| #49 | ByToby Fox | Released:2018-11-01 | soundtrackelectronic | ||
| #7 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2018-12-14 | |||
| #2 | ByBTS | Released:2019-04-23 | soundtrack | ||
| #22 | ByASHLEY O | Released:2019-06-16 | |||
| #15 | ByMelanie Martinez | Released:2019-09-06 | |||
| #21 | ByLabrinth | Released:2019-10-04 | |||
| #1 | ByLana Del Rey | Released:2020-02-07 | soundtrackpost-punk revival | ||
| #78 | ByJack Stauber's Micropop | Released:2020-03-08 | |||
| #48 | BySeatbelts | Released:2020-12-04 | |||
| #54 | ByToby Fox | Released:2021-09-17 | soundtrackelectronic | ||
| #57 | ByThe Cast of Netflix's Film tick, tick... BOOM! | Released:2021-11-12 | musicalsoundtrack | ||
| #74 | ByLin-Manuel Miranda | Released:2021-11-19 | soundtrackmusical | ||
| #98 | BySon Lux | Released:2022-04-08 | |||
| #94 | ByLady Gaga | Released:2022-05-27 | soundtrackarena rock | ||
| #36 | ByAdo | Released:2022-08-10 | |||
| #69 | ByRihanna | Released:2022-11-11 | |||
| #25 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2023-07-21 | |||
| #52 | ByOlivia Rodrigo | Released:2023-11-17 | |||
| #76 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2023 | soundtrack | ||
| #67 | ByTrent Reznor and Atticus Ross | Released:2024-04-26 |