2020 Emmy Nominees for Music Composition
Nominations for the 72nd Emmy Awards were announced, including the nominees for Outstanding Music Composition For A Series; Limited Series, Movie or Special; and Documentary Series or Special.
Newcomer Labrinth gets the Emmy nomination for his work on the Euphoria soundtrack, his first gig composing for television. The producer is also nominated for his original song ‘All For Us‘ from Euphoria.
Other first-time Emmy nominees in these categories include Ludwig Göransson (for The Mandalorian soundtrack) and Pinar Toprak (for the McMillion$ soundtrack), though both have extensive credits in the feature film world, including Göransson’s 2019 Ocsar win for the Black Panther soundtrack.
Martin Phipps is being honored with his sixth Emmy nomination, this time for his work on the score for The Crown. Mark Isham also captures a sixth career nomination, this year for his work on the Little Fires Everywhere soundtrack.
Nathan Barr is a three-time Emmy nominee this year. He gets the nod for the Hollywood soundtrack below, but received two nominations in the main titles category: for main titles of both Hollywood and Carnival Row.
Meanwhile, NIN’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross pick up two nominations this year for their work on the Watchmen soundtrack. They are also recognized in the Music and Lyrics category for their original song ‘The Way It Used to Be‘. They add this recognition to previous Oscar and Golden Globes wins for their film scores.
Nicholas Britell gets the nomination this year for his Succession original score, after winning for the Succession Main Titles last year.
Check out all the nominees and their work below, including links to view the music from the nominated episodes and series.
See our separate coverage of the 2020 Emmy Nominees for Outstanding Music Supervision as well as the 2020 Emmy Nominees for Main Title Themes and Original Songs.
Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)
Music by Labrinth
Nominated Episode: S1 · E5 · Bonnie And Clyde
All music from Euphoria S1
HBO
Music by Danny Bensi
Music by Saunder Jurriaans
Nominated Episode: S3 · E10 · All In
All music from Ozark S3
Netflix
Music by Nicholas Britell
Nominated Episode: S2 · E10 · This Is Not For Tears
All music from Succession S2
HBO
Music by Martin Phipps
Nominated Episode: S3 · E3 · Aberfan
All music from The Crown S3
Netflix
Music by Ludwig Göransson
Nominated Episode: S1 · E8 · Chapter 8: Redemption
All music from The Mandalorian S1
Disney+
Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Series, Movie Or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Music by Nathan Barr
Nominated Episode: S1 · E2 · Hooray For Hollywood: Part 2
All music from Hollywood S1
Netflix
Music by Mark Isham
Music by Isabella Summers
Nominated Episode: S1 · E4 · The Spider Web
All music from Little Fires Everywhere S1
Hulu
Music by Kris Bowers
Nominated Episode: S1 · E9 · Reagan
All music from Mrs. America S1
FX Networks
Music by Antonio Gambale
Nominated Episode: S1 · E1 · Part 1
All music from Unorthodox S1
Netflix
Music by Trent Reznor
Music by Atticus Ross
Nominated Episode: S1 · E1 · It’s Summer And We’re Running Out Of Ice
All music from Watchmen S1
HBO
Outstanding Music Composition For A Documentary Series Or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Music by Kamasi Washington
Netflix
Music by Amanda Jones
Nominated Episode: S1 · E5 · Maine
All music from Home S1
Apple TV+
Music by Pinar Toprak
Music by Alex Kovacs
Nominated Episode: S1 · E1 · Episode 1
All music from McMillion$ S1
HBO
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh
Music by John Enroth
Music by Albert Fox
Nominated Episode: S1 · E1 · Not Your Average Joe
All music from Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness S1
Netflix
Music by Laura Karpman
Nominated Episode: S1 · E3 · Tools & Tactics
All music from Why We Hate S3
Discovery Channel
Original score is an important part of elevating storytelling in television and film. Most recently, back-to-back music composition for a series Emmy winner was Ramin Djawadi for HBO’s Game of Thrones soundtrack during the series’ final two seasons. In 2018, Djawadi was also nominated in the same category for his work on the season 2 of Westworld soundtrack.
Last year’s music composition for a limited series Emmy winner was Hildur Guðnadóttir for HBO’s Chernobyl soundtrack, which also received a Grammy award. Guðnadóttir most recently won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her work on the Joker soundtrack.
The 2019 Emmy winner for music composition for a documentary series or special was Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts for National Geographic’s Free Solo soundtrack. Free Solo won a total of 7 Emmy awards last year.
View the full list of nominees for the 2020 Emmy Awards. Curious how an Emmy is won? Check out this infographic that describes the nomination and voting process.
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be presented on September 12th and 13th. The 72nd Emmy Awards show will broadcast live on ABC on September 20th.
