Editing Soundtrack (section)

{{short description|Recorded sound accompanying a production such as a film}}
{{technical reasons|Soundtrack #1|the 2022 South Korean TV series|Soundtrack 1|the 2023 TV series|Soundtrack 2}}
{{redirect|Original soundtrack|other uses|Original Soundtrack (disambiguation)|and|Soundtrack (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:USN16mmSoundtrack.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[16 mm]] film showing a sound track at right<ref name=recordingSound />]]

A '''soundtrack'''<ref name=dictionary_def /> is a recorded [[audio signal]] accompanying and synchronised to the images of a [[book]], [[drama]], [[motion picture]], [[radio program]], [[television show|television program]], or [[video game]]; colloquially, a commercially released [[soundtrack album]] of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film, video, or television presentation; or the physical area of a film that contains the [[Sound-on-film|synchronised recorded sound]].<ref name=recordingSound />

In movie industry terminology usage, a [[sound film|sound track]] is an audio recording created or used in [[film production]] or [[post-production]]. Initially, the dialogue, sound effects, and music in a film each has its own separate track, and these are mixed together to make what is called the ''composite track,'' which is heard in the film. A ''[[dubbing]] track'' is often later created when films are dubbed into another language.  This is also known as an M&E (music and effects) track. M&E tracks contain all sound elements minus dialogue, which is then supplied by the foreign distributor in the native language of its territory.

Current dictionary entries for soundtrack document soundtrack as a noun, and as a verb.<ref name="dictionaryOED" /><ref name="dictionaryODE" /> An early attempt at popularizing the term ''sound track'' was printed in the magazine ''[[Photoplay]]'' in 1929.<ref name="photoplay" /> A 1992 technical dictionary entry in the ''Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology'' does not distinguish between the form sound track and soundtrack.<ref name=dictionaryST1 />

The contraction ''soundtrack'' came into public consciousness with the advent of so-called ''soundtrack albums'' in the late 1940s. First conceived by movie companies as a promotional gimmick for new films, these commercially available recordings were labeled and advertised as "music from the original motion picture ''soundtrack''", or "music from and inspired by the motion picture." These phrases were soon shortened to just "original motion picture ''soundtrack''." More accurately, such recordings are made from a film's ''music track,'' because they usually consist of isolated music from a film, not the composite (sound) track with dialogue and sound effects.

The term '''original soundtrack (OST)''', often used for titles of albums of soundtrack music, is sometimes also used to differentiate the original music heard and recorded versus a rerecording or [[cover version]], and behaves as a unique type of [[concept album]] that revolves around a unified theme in a story.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a Concept Album? Denver Public Library has 195 for You to Listen To.|url= https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/music/dodie/what-concept-album-dpl-has-195-you-listen#:~:text=A%20concept%20album%20is%20a,lyrical%2C%20instrumental%2C%20or%20narrative.|access-date=2025-05-24}}</ref>