An Original Soundtrack, or OST album, is a common type of soundtrack album.
Generally, the term refers to a commercial album released around the time of the film's release featuring selections of the score. In most cases, OSTs are incomplete, presenting only portions of the complete score, and the music that is presented is often edited or presented out of order in an attempt to create a "better listening experience". OSTs are usually edited by the composer.
Different composers have different habits with their OST albums:
- Most John Williams OST albums tend to combine multiple cues into a single track, present the music out of order, and microedit portions out of cues. His track titles are generally reflective of the scene the music is from, although they don't always match the equivalent cue titles.
- Most Michael Giacchino albums tend to present one cue per track, in order, and unedited. The only difference between his OSTs and his expanded releases are that the OSTs are missing cues. His OSTs usually use the same names as his original cue titles, which are famously filled with puns.
- Examples: (Jurassic World, Spider-Man: Homecoming)
- Most Hans Zimmer albums tend to present their music edited in a similar fashion to John Williams albums (with out of order, microedited music). His track titles are often quotes from the movies, scattered around almost at random. It's very uncommon for a Hans Zimmer OST track to contain the music from the scene its title refers to.
- Examples: (The Dark Knight, Inception)