Is knowledge of music necessary for composition?
Fundamentally, is music something one should learn from others?
What are your thoughts on music as an academic subject?

Composition is Quotation of Past Works

Ninety-five percent of composition draws from the legacy of the past. A composer's own "inventions" account for perhaps only one or two percent, at most five. The bulk of composition is quotation of past works.

Therefore, it's impossible to compose without knowledge of music. It's the same as not being able to write a novel without knowing language. The idea that something will spontaneously emerge while you're just spacing out is a fantasy.

A genius capable of changing the world on a grand scale, like Bach or Debussy, appears perhaps once every three hundred years.

The Beatles' music, too, is a form of quotation. Elements from Black music, musicals, popular music, rock and roll – various influences are skillfully mixed. Producer George Martin was the one who polished it all.

I feel that The Beatles represent a rich accumulation rather than pure originality.

Academic Study is of No Use for Composition

Furthermore, academic study and composition are entirely different things.
There is such a thing as musicology, but it's actually of no use when you're composing.

Academic music involves definitions, naming, genre classification… it's a method for understanding music. It was systematized later by others, not by the originators, as an afterthought. Therefore, it's often of little use when trying to apply it to composition.

Knowledge is Essential for Composition!
One should learn from others, but
Above all, one cannot compose without striving to learn for oneself.

Let's state that definitively.

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