As one of the largest performing rights organizations in the world, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) represents hundreds of thousands of composers, songwriters, and music publishers, ensuring they’re recognized and compensated for their work across film, television, streaming, and gaming. Each year, the BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards celebrate the composers whose work shapes the soundtracks of our lives.
This year, the organization bestowed its highest honor—the BMI Icon Award—on Atticus Ross, a composer, producer, and musician whose work has consistently redefined the boundaries of sound in both film and television.
Ross, known for his long-running collaboration with Trent Reznor and his career with Nine Inch Nails, accepted the award at a private ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. According to a statement from the company, Ross was honored “in recognition of his exceptional body of work across film and television.”
BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill presented the award, calling Ross’s work transformative: “Your innovative spirit and passion for pushing the boundaries of composition have literally reengineered the way we experience storytelling,” he said. “We are very proud to honor your incomparable contributions to the world of music as a composer, a rock pioneer and an icon.”
Ross, who has scored everything from The Social Network and Watchmen to Challengers and Soul, reflected on the honor with characteristic thoughtfulness. “The thing I love about film music is that there aren’t any rules, there aren’t any pros,” he said. “Essentially, to my mind, it’s all about how we make people feel, and that’s what music is about.” He added: “I put a lot of effort into making sure that this never feels like a job. I wake up every day grateful for the opportunity to make music. This is my dream, and I don’t take it lightly.”
Ross’s résumé is as impressive as it is expansive. In addition to winning two Academy Awards®, a BAFTA, two GRAMMYs®, and three Golden Globes, he’s taken home 18 BMI Film, TV, and Visual Media Awards, as well as accolades across pop, country, and R&B/Hip-Hop. His sonic fingerprint can be heard across some of the most emotionally resonant films and series of the last two decades, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Book of Eli, Triple 9, Black Mirror, and Shōgun—many in collaboration with his brother Leopold Ross and wife Claudia Sarne.
With this latest honor, Ross joins an elite group of BMI Icon recipients, including John Williams, Rachel Portman, Alan Silvestri, Mychael Danna, Terence Blanchard, and Thomas Newman.
The evening also celebrated dozens of other composers for their work on the year’s most successful projects. Twenty-nine first-time BMI winners were recognized, including Kathryn Bostic, Goh Nakamura, Kara Talve, Dara Taylor and Zack Ryan. Multiple award-winners included Fil Eisler, Tom Howe, Andrew Lockington, Blake Neely, Julia Newman, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Tyler Strickland, Atli Örvarsson—and of course, Atticus Ross himself.
A complete list of winners can be found here.
