Composers
I've restricted franchises to a single entry so as to leave room for more. I've also referred to film soundtracks in their entirety instead of individual tracks such as "duel of the fates" to make it easier to work out what I think is good.
John Williams' Star Wars score captured a generation -- and I followed all his films from there. ET, Superman, Raiders, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park. Hum a few bars of any of them and they're instantly recognisable.
Favourite soundtracks: Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Superman, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, The Poseidon Adventure
I'd never heard of Howard Shore until Lord of the Rings but the music there was so great that I went looking to see what else he'd done. He's got a huge body of work which is all quite interesting but nothing else that jumps out for its music alone - yet.
Favourite soundtracks: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Silence of the Lambs, The Fly
Danny's score in the Nightmare Before Christmas was what got me looking at his other work. He's got a real affinity with the Depp/Burton films and his music is often comical itself (and dark of course).
Favourite soundtracks: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Batman Returns, Men in Black, Mars Attacks, The Frighteners, The Simpsons, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Composer of most of the Doctor Who themes from 2005 until 2017. There's some incredible compositions in that lot including I am the Doctor, Abigail's theme and A Good Man.
Favourite soundtracks: Doctor Who, Miranda, Second Coming, Torchwood
Ramin first came to my attention as the composer of Game of Thrones, which was one of the most aggressively attention-grabbing scores on television - ever. Since then, I've been noticing his name popping up all over the place.
Favourite soundtracks: Game of Thrones, Pacific Rim, Westworld.