The soundtrack album consisted of 21 tracks, with incorporated compositions from Goodie Mob, Boris Gardiner and Barbara Lewis and an arrangement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Vesperae solennes de confessore" by Britell, with the score accompanying the remainder of it.

[3] Plan B Entertainment, co-producer Jeremy Kleiner approached Britell with a script for reading, which he felt as "incredibly beautiful" and "completely overwhelmed" agreeing to contribute to the music.

[7] In contrast, the score for "The Middle of the World" is played when a young Chiron is taught to swim by Juan (Mahershala Ali), a sensitive drug-dealer who becomes his father-figure.

[12] Britell performed the score live at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles on January 10, 2017, where a special screening of the film was held.

Wordless Music Orchestra performed the score at the stage with Britell conducting, and will also receive a copy of the film's soundtrack in physical form by A24.

On the live performance, Britell felt "incredibly excited" and also added that he would re-record the complex soundscapes and audio textures and use "a variety of techniques (including real-time pitch shifting) to recreate the chopped and screwed music recorded in the studio".

[10] About the chopped and screwed technique for the score, Marsh explained "Moonlight is all about slowing things down: it’s about how identities are made, how appearances are cultivated, and how if we stop for a moment the difference between who we’re trying to be and who we are becomes obvious.

"[10] Writing for Drowned in Sound, Adam Turner-Heffer gave a score of 8 out 10 and commented "Britell's soundtrack is every bit as unnerving and beautiful as the film it colours and is well worth exploring as a wonderful piece of contemporary music, as well as cinema.

"[19] Laurie Chen of The Quietus called the album as "immensely evocative and conjures up entire scenes of the film when only a fragment is heard".