"Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters wins best original song at World Soundtrack Awards
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters won best original song at the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards on 10 October.
The prize was presented at the WSA Ceremony & Concert during Film Fest Gent in Belgium, according to the published winners list Billboard. The song arrived with a proven public record. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks.
Seven writers share the credit: Kim Eun-jae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park. On the recording it is performed by HUNTR/X, credited as EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI. Variety listed the song winners as EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick Variety.
Daniel Pemberton was named film composer of the year. The award covered four projects in one year: Project Hail Mary, The Drama, The Bad Guys 2 and Masters of the Universe. Four features in a single awards cycle is a heavy workload by any measure.
Jeff Russo took television composer of the year for Alien: Earth, Cape Fear and Citadel Season 2. Hannah Peel was named discovery of the year for Midwinter Break, the prize for emerging talent. Kevin Smithers won the public choice award, decided by audience vote, for Soy Frankelda.
Two specialist prizes completed the night. Xabier Doural García won best original composition by a young composer. Nicolas Garcia won the game music award, the category for scores written for video games, for Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss.
The ceremony was the 26th edition of the WSA Ceremony & Concert, held on Saturday 10 October. It closed three days of Film Music Days, listed on the WSA site as running 8 to 10 October World Soundtrack Awards. The programme included a concert built around Mary Lattimore and Old Joy on 8 October and a second concert with múm and La Vie Revée on 9 October.
What makes this stand out is the breadth. A chart-topping film song shared the programme with television drama, independent film, audience favourites and games. For fans, this means one evening where very different kinds of screen music are heard side by side.
