Stilwell (2001), "Film Music Scholarship Since 1980"

Stilwell's review of literature divides film music scholarship into nine areas of research. These areas can further be reduced to three broad emphases in film music scholarship: historical, musicological, and cultural.

1. Historical film music research often focuses on silent films and early film scoring. Here, Stilwell (2001) discusses the prevalence of classical music for this period of film sound.

2. Musicological analysis of film music is common in the study of contemporary film music uses. Stilwell (2001) argues that musicological approaches may be hampered by the form's complexity. Film's pairing of aural with visual creates difficulty for scholars trained to analyze only one of these areas. Film music has therefore often been analyzed as a merely aural medium, with much of the film music literature ignoring the visual imagery with with film music is paired. This has resulted in a body of literature that is very technical, but often apolitical.

3. Cultural perspectives of study often focus on the use of popular music in films to drive both music and cinema commodities. Though Stilwell (2001) notes the importance of including social context in film music scholarship, she believes that cultural studies' emphasis on context alone reinforces the idea that popular music is only important for its cultural significance, and not for its musical value.