How ‘Pluribus,’ ‘Murderbot’ and ‘Spider-Noir’ Composers Found Innovative Ways to Score Emmy-Contending Shows
Composers working in longform TV continue to find fascinating and original ways to convey the essence of character and nuances of emotion over multiple hours of storytelling. This season’s standout e…
Composers working in longform TV continue to find fascinating and original ways to convey the essence of character and nuances of emotion over multipl
Read Full Story at Variety →Why This Matters
The evolution of scoring in prestige television reflects deeper shifts in how stories are told across mediums, where music isn’t just accompaniment but an active participant in world-building. These composers demonstrate how genre itself—be it sci-fi, noir, or anthropomorphic satire—can be elevated through sound design choices that feel inherently tied to the narrative’s DNA.
Background Context
The past decade has seen a quiet revolution in TV scoring, where streaming platforms’ demand for serialized storytelling has forced composers to think beyond episodic hooks. Meanwhile, the rise of hybrid genres—like sci-fi noir or animated adult drama—has blurred traditional boundaries, pushing creators to invent sonic vocabularies that feel both familiar and unprecedented.
What Happens Next
As AI-generated music tools proliferate, the risk of homogenization grows, but the success of these Emmy-contenders suggests audiences still crave the human touch in scoring. Expect more composers to experiment with modular compositions that adapt to nonlinear storytelling, while budgets for original scores may face pressure from synthetic alternatives in lower-tier productions.
Bigger Picture
This trend mirrors broader cultural anxieties about authenticity in art, where the rise of algorithmic media has made handcrafted scoring a defiant act of character. It also underscores how television is reclaiming its role as a laboratory for sonic innovation, long after film scores dominated the conversation about music’s narrative power.
