Open Comment Thread: Should Freelance Collaborative Pianists Be Regulated in Universities?

I've received a number of emails over the last while regarding initiatives at several universities to regulate the activities and business practices of freelance collaborative pianists who work there. Some of the issues at stake include:

• the right of universities to determine who is allowed to freelance in a school of music
• caps on maximum hourly rates and flat fees
• types of services which can and cannot be billed
• the right of collaborative pianists to determine contractual terms, such as billing for missed coachings

The perceived rights of freelance collaborative pianists to work on a self-employed basis at universities which cannot provide staff accompanying services for all their students can be a contentious issue, and I can think of several arguments both for and against granting pianists a free market in the college setting:

For

• having a freelance pianist market can literally save schools of music hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in accompanying fees and staff pianist positions
• excessive control of pianists by university administration is not always in the best interest of maintaining a high artistic standard at the school
• students might not wish to work with pianists mandated by the university
• pianists should be allowed to charge fairly for their work, and will go elsewhere if this right is denied

Against

• freelance pianists work on the property of public and private institutions, whose administrators have every legal right to manage labor standards, and whose departments and faculty have every right to manage academic standards
• freelance work by piano students on student visas may jeopardize their legal situation vis-à-vis allowable employment
• non-student freelance pianists might not be working legally in the country, and liability for any immigration laws being broken may lie with the institution who allows them to work there
• students need to be protected against unscrupulous billing practices by pianists, especially at peak times of the academic year

Your comments on the subject are welcome. I also respect your right to post anonymously. Just remember that if you comment on this subject on Facebook, your views will most certainly not be anonymous, since people on both sides of this issue have a stake in the outcome and may very well be viewing the comments.