Last Thursday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Oscar nominees. Snubs and surprises weren’t in shortage this year, from the six nominations for last-minute contender “American Sniper” to the lack of nominations for “Foxcatcher,” “Selma” director Ava DuVernay, “Nightcrawler” actor Jake Gyllenhaal, “Cake” actress Jennifer Aniston, “Gone Girl” screenwriter Gillian Flynn and animated feature film “The Lego Movie.” However, one snub in particular stuck out to me — Lorde’s song “Yellow Flicker Beat,” written for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1,” wasn’t nominated for best original song.

Before the Oscar nominations, “Yellow Flicker Beat” had already experienced some success, garnering both Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations. As a whole, critics acclaimed the song, especially for its lyrics. “Yellow Flicker Beat” even broke into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and received significant radio airplay — something none of the best original song nominees have achieved.

With this success, and the general quality of “Yellow Flicker Beat,” it’s hard to see why it wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. The best original song category is even specific to songwriting, which is clearly one of Lorde’s strengths. Lorde even personally curated the entire soundtrack to “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1,” and a nomination for “Yellow Flicker Beat” would have also served as a nod to that effort on her part.

Snubs of popular songs are pretty common with the academy, though. Just last year, Lana Del Rey’s hit “Young and Beautiful,” written for “The Great Gatsby,” was snubbed for the same award. In 2010, none of the songs written for “Burlesque” were nominated for an Oscar, even though two got Golden Globe nods in the best song category. (“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me” by Cher would eventually go on to win that award.) The Oscars even seem to have a special relationship with popular songs from the Hunger Games franchise, as Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars’ “Safe and Sound” and Swift’s “Eyes Open,” both written for “The Hunger Games,” and Coldplay’s “Atlas,” written for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” both failed to be nominated for Oscars.

Clearly, the problem isn’t the music — it’s the academy. More often than not, the academy veers away from pop songs written for movies. These are the same pop songs that get nominated for (and win) Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards.

In the future, I hope to see the academy recognize good music, regardless of its popularity. I must add that I do wholeheartedly support the civil rights anthem John Legend and Common wrote for Selma, “Glory,” to win best original song at the Oscars. However, I am a bit saddened that I won’t get to see Lorde perform “Yellow Flicker Beat”on the Oscars. I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of her in the music-for-movies world, though, but maybe next time she’ll actually have her talent recognized.

Update on Sunday, Nov. 19, 11:41 p.m.: For an up-to-date reference on the top critically-acclaimed albums, refer to Hear The Music Play’s Top 100 Albums of All Time.