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Music teachers, beware. The feds are onto you. Better not try to raise the price of your lessons.

SEE URL:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303562904579224251626379422

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. Wake up, people!!! And to those who are currently too afraid to speak out I can only say what I've been saying for the last few years "You think you're afraid now -- wait -- you have not seen anything yet!!!"

Ugh! Thanks, Obama!

That's not an article, it's from the opinion page. It is biased political commentary and frankly has no place in this forum. I request the topic be locked.

So did it or did it not happen?

Read the last paragraph and see if you would trust anything in that op-ed opinion piece without verifying. Your BS detector should have pegged.

Michael, thanks for bringing this to our attention. While the paper is editorially conservative, it has proven, over the years, to be highly accurate in rooting out government power abuses, which this is obviously one. Members of Guild and MTAC, you should probably be up-channeling this to your organization's leadership.

John, wouldn't it be better for people to up-channel the info via MTNA rather than such an editorial? I found this, for example:
http://spamta.webs.com/Minutes/SPAMTA%20Business%20Meeting%20September%2011%202013.pdf

It seemed much more factual.

This issue has also been reported in "The Music Trades". It has occurred and is similar to actions taken many years ago against the Piano Technicians Guild. So like it or not, this is really happening and calling it a "biased opinion" won't make it go away.

Exactly. I had looked at other sources and it verified this, including MTNA's own meeting minutes:

http://www.mtna.org/media/61062/0713_MTNAMinutes.pdf

Whether or not you like the source, this article is accurate.

If MTNA informs other music organizations, they might be accused of restraint of trade, so better the members do the informing.

In re the Wisconsin Music Teacher's Association, it seems to me that Strassel's article puts flesh on the WMTA minutes.

Ok, then MTNA members. That is a good idea. But using credible information rather than sensationalist journalism. The articles starts with the implication that there is a rule against raising fees. Can you imagine somebody believing this, and then complaining about the wrong thing? They would look foolish.


It twists and confuses - it's more like adding a Hallowe'en costume. It begins with the sentence about rate raising and informs the reader that music teachers charge between $5.00 and $30.00/hour. It stresses that most MTNA members are women making a modest income at home. Why stress women, and what is being implied by that? The wife making a bit of extra money or woman with no marketable skills? Men and women, trained professionals, have studios in their homes, like many skilled entrepreneurs. It's insulting, but meant to garner sympathy.

There is something that happened. But it does not involved restrictions to raising fees. I am suggesting that people get informed at the source, and not base themselves on a meandering journalistic piece. You want to be properly informed when addressing something like this.

Headlines are written by headline writers, not the article writer. Your inference was different than mine. I felt it was nothing more than an eye-catcher and took it as tongue in cheek.

BTW, the Wall Street Journal has been doing an occasional series of articles on government using massive power against individuals and small businesses.


What is meant by that is that most music teachers charge between $5 and $30/hr, and that most MTNA members are women making a modest income at home. Both are factual statements; perhaps we shouldn't read more into the statement than what is said.

Glad to see that there is at least one "red line" Washington WILL bravely enforce: the predatory and rapacious behavior of robber baron piano teachers.

We can all sleep more soundly now. And we do.

Tying it in the last paragraph to other unrelated "offenses" that are associated fairly or not with the current administration was dishonest and biased.

The first paragraph says "making the world safe from rapacious piano teachers." And if true, that would indeed seem a liberal action. But in fact it's not only untrue, it's exactly the opposite. The FTC action is intended to free piano teachers from association regulation that prevents them from charging anything they want, and poaching any student they want - in other words to encourage any free market rapaciousness they desire.

Now, take a moment for critical thinking - is that a liberal position, or a conservative one?

The piano tech guild case, if it's the one I'm thinking of, was under the Reagan administration, not exactly known for a liberal agenda.

The IRS targeting conservatives? Is that related in some way? Is it even true? The IRS is tasked with enforcing 501.c3 regulations. These regulations say organizations can operate tax free in secret, as long as they are social and not political. The IRS did target a number of organizations whose name indicated they were political in nature, some conservative and some liberal. Was that a bad thing? Is that a liberal or conservative approach?

I don't know the story behind Gibson Guitar or the EPA mine investigation. I do know if somebody were interested in exposing an injustice, they would work on the facts of one case. If their only interest is a political smear campaign, they throw in as much garbage as they can and hope some sticks.

But there are people who would not take it tongue in cheek, and it is also common for people to not read carefully. A quick scan of the article will leave negative impressions and emotion. That is how this type of journalism (including televised news) is done. It does not stay with the headline - it continues into the article.

What I am saying is that the best resource for information on serious things in your own profession is not journalism.

- The issue is not that of raising fees
- afaik, music lesson rates do not fall between $5.00 to $30.00 an hour in the United States

These are two things presented in that journalistic article, and if someone were to base himself on them, he would look a fool. It is always best to inform yourself with reliable resources, and preferably more than one, before launching into anything. You might start with the article, but then find out more. I'm sure you don't disagree with that.

Well, I'm still waiting for the NYTimes, USAToday, Washington Post, and some of our other bastions of the free press, to report on the issue. In the mean time, I'll try to focus on the crux of what's reported, and try not to shoot the messenger who may or may not meet my journalistic standards.

John, the messenger doesn't interest me - only the message. If anyone wants to act on issues affecting their profession, then they have to have correct information, or they will lose credence. So I am only suggesting to get at reliable information, which is usually done by getting as close to the source as possible.

The press has to sell and remain popular.

Are you against finding things out from MTNA members and similar? Or just want to read newspapers additionally? I really couldn't see the former as being true.

What?????? I suspect that once again, we've been talking two separate issues here. Further, I'm not understanding what you're saying here. Unfortunately, we're off to the airport, so won't be able to check back until this evening. Have a great Friday, everyone.

I think we, are, John. I have been stressing that people who want to get involved go as close to the source for information. You seemed to be arguing against that, and I think that was a misunderstanding. I think we're actually on the same page.