From the initiation of Filmtracks in 1996, visitors to the Cool Stuff page got the chance to vote for their favorite scores and composers of 1996 in the three categories below. As with many online forms, some people typed in nonsense (complete garble), names of scores from years ago, personal troubles, etc... Also, there was the occasional self-important person who voted for his favorite scores 20 times in the matter of minutes (namely those persistent Star Trek fans). We did the best we could to filter out these screw-ups and present the true public opinion.

Final 1996 Voting Results:

Men:

Best CD release of the year	Best composer of the year	Best score as heard in the film
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (35) Independence Day (17) Star Trek: First Contact (17) The Spitfire Grill (16) The Ghost and the Darkness (14) The Rock (14) Vertigo (McNeely) (10) Twister (8) Summon the Heroes (1996 Olympics) (6) Mission: Impossible (4) Music for a Darkened Theatre II (3) Romeo & Juliet (3) Courage Under Fire (3) Monstrous Movie Music (3) Dragonheart (2) The Mirror Has Two Faces (2) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2) The English Patient (2) Fly Away Home (1) To Gillian on her 37th Birthday (1) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (1) Escape from L.A. (1) Sleepers (1) Predator (reissue) (1) Trainspotting (1) 101 Dalmations (1) Scream (1) Surviving Picasso (1) Muppet Treasure Island (1) Michael Collins (1) The Alien Trilogy (1) Broken Arrow (1) Stealing Beauty (1) Heat (1) Crash (1) Evita (1) Shadows of the Empire (1)	James Horner (46) Jerry Goldsmith (34) Danny Elfman (27) David Arnold (22) Hans Zimmer (15) John Williams (12) Elliot Goldenthal (6) Thomas Newman (4) Mark Mancina (4) Gabriel Yared (2) James Newton Howard (2) Howard Shore (2) Mark Isham (2) Alen Menken (1) Carter Burwell (1) John Carpenter (1) Marvin Hamlisch (1) Michael Kamen (1) Robert Folk (1) Christopher Young (1) George Fenton (1) Patrick Doyle (1)	Independence Day (41) Star Trek: First Contact (21) The Ghost and the Darkness (20) The Rock (15) Mission: Impossible (15) Mars Attacks! (14) The Spitfire Grill (7) Twister (7) Sleepers (6) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (6) The English Patient (4) Dragonheart (3) Fargo (3) 101 Dalmations (3) Phenomenon (3) Fly Away Home (2) Courage Under Fire (2) Romeo & Juliet (2) Michael Collins (2) Vertigo (re-release) (1) Jerry Maguire (1) Executive Decision (1) Extreme Measures (1) Last Man Standing (1) Muppet Treasure Island (1) Ransom (1) Crash (1) Shine (1) Heat (1) Hamlet (1) Lawnmower Man 2: Into Cyberspace (1)

Women:

Best CD release of the year	Best composer of the year	Best score as heard in the film
Dragonheart (2) Romeo & Juliet (2) The Ghost and the Darkness (1) E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1) Music for a Darkened Theatre II (1) Vertigo (McNeely) (1) Escape from LA (1) Independence Day (1) Twister (1) Emma (1)	James Horner (5) John Williams (3) Thomas Newman (1) Randy Edelman (1) Danny Elfman (1) Carter Burwell (1)	Dragonheart (2) Independence Day (2) The Rock (1) Mission: Impossible (1) Phenomenon (1) Fly Away Home (1) Romeo & Juliet (1) Fargo (1) Mars Attacks! (1) Portrait of a Lady (1)