Taylor Swift Hollywood Music in Media Awards Nomination for 'I Knew It, I Knew You'

A Taylor Swift Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination arrived on 2 November 2026, when the Hollywood Music in Media Awards announced its 2026 nominees and placed “I Knew It, I Knew You”, from Toy Story 5, in the Song – Animated Film category. The song was written by Swift and Jack Antonoff and performed by Swift, and the nomination is the latest step in an awards-season run that has already taken the track from the cinema to the Academy Museum Gala stage.

At a glance: Taylor Swift Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination

Announcement	Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2026 nominees, announced on 2 November 2026
Category	Song – Animated Film
Song	“I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5
Writers	Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff
Performer	Taylor Swift
Ceremony	17th annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards, 18 November 2026, Avalon Hollywood
Film's other nomination	Score – Animated Film, for Randy Newman

Taylor Swift Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination: the category and the song

TheWrap reported the full nominations list after the Hollywood Music in Media Awards announced its 2026 nominees on Monday, 2 November 2026, and its Song – Animated Film section lists “I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5 as written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff and performed by Taylor Swift. Leadership reported the same nomination, and noted that the awards recognise composers, songwriters, music supervisors and performers across film, television, video games and other visual media. That breadth is the point: it is a screen-music prize, judged on what a song does inside a film, not a pop-chart prize.

The nomination also fits the song's story so far. “I Knew It, I Knew You” is Swift's original song for Pixar's Toy Story 5, released in cinemas in June 2026. USA Today has reported that it became her 15th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a first for Pixar, and that she performed it at the Academy Museum Gala on 17 October 2026. A chart report on 1 November 2026 noted it had also topped Billboard's Top Movie Songs chart for a fourth consecutive month.

Who else is nominated in Song – Animated Film

Swift and Antonoff face four other songs in the category. Next Best Picture published the full animated-film list, which runs as follows. “Bottle Up” from Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie was written by Ed Sheeran, Savan Kotecha, Johnny McDaid and Ilya Salmanzadeh and performed by The Backstreet Boys. “BRB” from Forgotten Island was written by Ryan Tedder and Gabriella Wilson and performed by H.E.R. and Liza Soberano. “Someone to Hold” from Steps was written by Justin Tranter and performed by JENNIE. “The Better Part of Bravery” from Wildwood was written by Colin Meloy and performed by The Decemberists.

That is a varied shortlist: a boy-band performance, a pop-and-soul pairing, a solo K-pop star turn and a folk-rock band, against Swift's Pixar ballad. No favourite is declared in the nominations reporting, and none is declared here. The category will be decided by the voting body, which TheWrap described as composed of members of the motion picture, television and recording academies, along with select journalists: a peer-and-press vote, not a fan vote.

Toy Story 5's second nomination on the night

Toy Story 5 did not leave the nominations announcement with a single mention. TheWrap's list also places the film in Score – Animated Film, for Randy Newman. TheWrap counted Toy Story 5 among the films receiving two nominations, while Behemoth!, The Odyssey, Michael, Brother vs. Brother and Linda Perry: Let It Die Here led the film nominations with three each.

That second nomination matters, because it shows the film's music being recognised as a whole rather than as one isolated track. Newman is the longtime Pixar composer whose work runs through the Toy Story series, and the two nominations sit side by side: one for the score that carries the film, and one for the original song that closes it.

Why this nomination matters for the Oscar race

The nomination matters most as a marker on the road to the Academy Awards, and the reporting is careful about what it can and cannot predict. TheWrap noted that last year, the awards' four song categories contained three of the five songs that went on to be nominated for Oscars, and 11 of the 15 songs shortlisted by the Academy's Music Branch. That is a track record, not a promise: it does not guarantee a place on the Academy's list.

For Swift personally, the stakes are easy to state. USA Today has reported that, despite writing several film songs, she has yet to receive an Oscar nomination, and that “I Knew It, I Knew You” is in contention for her first. That context explains the pace of her autumn: her Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in October 2026, her Academy Museum Gala performance on 17 October 2026, and her appearance at the 1 November 2026 Toy Story 5 screening in New York City, where she spoke about the film's story of friendship. Those appearances kept the same song in front of the same awards-season audience, and this nomination is the first formal awards-body response.

What to watch next

First, watch the winners announcement at the 17th annual ceremony on Wednesday, 18 November 2026, at the Avalon Hollywood. Second, watch the Academy's next steps: USA Today reported in October 2026 that the Academy's preliminary voting begins in December 2026, with shortlists expected on 15 December 2026, and Leadership noted that the Oscar nominations follow on 21 January 2027. Third, watch whether the result, win or lose, changes how the song is talked about in that Oscar conversation, given last year's overlap between the two bodies' lists. The nomination has put “I Knew It, I Knew You” on the awards-season map in writing; the next dates will show how far it travels.