Oscars' Score and Song Frontrunners Come Into Focus as Shortlist Approaches Ludwig Göransson is among the past winners in contention. Jon Burlingame, provided by FacebookTwitterEmail As voting opens for the Oscar shortlists on Feb. 1, the picture is slowly coming into focus: Academy composers and songwriters are faced with one of the most diverse batches of scores they’ve ever heard. The approximately 350 members of the Academy music branch are sifting through dozens of films to try and single out 15 scores and 15 songs worthy of placement on its shortlists, which will be revealed Feb. 9. These preliminary choices will be narrowed down to five final nominees in each category, to be announced March 15.