I never wanted to be a composer -- even when writing Hasty Pudding shows, I was much more interested in mastering and understanding style and structure than in creating an original melody. I've always been much more interested in the arranging side of things.

But this category is here because as an arranger, I use every compositional trick in the book, and sometimes that includes writing things "in the style of". And when you write something for TV, even if it's "in the style of", you are the de facto composer, and ASCAP takes note. Well, first they send The Other David Chase^TM all of your (admittedly minimal) royalties for a few years until you start investigating. I mean, he gets enough already, doesn't he?

In the theatre, no matter how many completely original melodies and countermelodies you write as an arranger, you're always writing referentially to the composer, and neither recognition nor royalties come your way. Think of that great melody in the dance of 'Shipoopi' that has echoes of the Castle Walk. That's purely, wholly, by Laurence Rosenthal, the dance arranger. It's completely unrelated to anything that Meredith Willson wrote. But Willson (or his estate, anyway) is the sole recipient of credit and money. I could write a book about this...