Is it a good or a bad thing that a piece of music can almost instantly be ascribed to a certain musician or composer?
For example, when you listen to a piece composed by Harry G. Williams, you instantly know that it was composed by him.
Is it a good thing that a composer has a distinctive style, or does it show that he does not have enough range to make unique pieces of music?
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It is an inevitable and human thing.
It’s generally a good thing IMO. Many musicians and composers can do different styles but few are good at all of them, or even any of them.
I think it is not only a good thing, but as @marinelife stated above, inevitable. This is true not only of music, but in other arts as well. Art fans can tell a Monet from a Manet by their different styles. In the country music genre, for example, Willie Nelson has composed many songs, which have been recorded by many artists. However, I can usually recognize one of his songs, no matter who is singing it.
Neither good nor bad. It just is.
Someone like Beethoven wrote in distinctive way. Bob Dylan, same thing. Certain rhythms and passages are simply touchpoints to identify their music.
About the only musical genre where (to me) everything sounds alike is rap.
Good thing to me. How else am I supposed to be able to avoid the horror that is Rush within 3 seconds of one of their songs coming on the radio?
Well if their music is so similar that I can go ‘oh this is by xxx’, that’s pretty boring and formulaic. Like Status Quo. A handful of cords (if that) and you can say call it. Dull. I like AC/DC but the same criticism would apply to a lot of their work. Apart from some early track, I don’t like their stuff.
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