The Grammys honor a number of musical achievements in visual media (which include movies, TV programs, and even video games). Best Visual Media Compilation awards soundtrack albums that consist of collected songs. That’s different from Best Visual Media Score, which corresponds more closely to the Oscar for Best Original Score. Because this category awards the producers of soundtracks from a variety of media, we’ve gotten a diverse array of winners ranging from Zach Braff (“Garden State,” 2005) to Joaquin Phoenix (“Walk the Line,” 2007), to Woody Allen (“Midnight in Paris,” 2013), to Dave Grohl (“Sound City: Real to Reel,” 2014). Last year’s champ was “Miles Ahead,” produced by Don Cheadle. This year’s list of contenders is no less wide-ranging.
The most familiar to Grammy voters is surely Pharrell Williams, who produced the “” soundtrack. Williams has won 11 Grammys out of 35 previous nominations. And this year he has two other bids: Best Visual Medial Score for “Hidden Figures” and Best R&B Song as a co-writer of SZA‘s “Supermodel.” But Williams is up against a couple of soundtracks for films that are specifically known for their music.
The musical film “La La Land” has four Grammy nominations overall, including for its Oscar winning song “City of Stars” and for Justin Hurwitz‘s score. Hurwitz is also nominated in this category as a producer of the compilation, along with Marius de Vries. Then there’s the Disney animated musical “Moana,” produced by Opetaia Foa’i, Tom MacDougall, Mark Mancina, and of course Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the songs from the film and has previously won Grammys for his musical theater albums for “In the Heights” and “Hamilton.”
Two action films with retro musical sensibilities are also in the running. “Baby Driver,” about an expert getaway driver who drowns out distractions with his special music playlist, has a soundtrack album produced by the film’s director Edgar Wright. And “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” the Marvel sequel whose hero listens to tunes on his Walkman, is produced by its director, James Gunn; “Guardians Vol. 1” was nominated in this category in 2015, but lost to Disney’s “Frozen” — is that good news for “Moana” this year?
Be sure to make your Grammy predictions so that Hollywood record executives and top name stars can see how their songs and albums are faring in our Grammy odds. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on January 28. And join in the fierce debate over the 2018 Grammys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our music forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
