The headline above is clearly the take away point from the article in today’s Raleigh News and Observer about calls for government licensing of music therapists being pushed by the North Carolina Music Therapist Association. Typically the stated reason for licensing workers in an industry is that there is a problem of quality or fraudulent activity that the licensing would allegedly solve. But for music therapists this doesn’t seem to be a problem. There are no such issues mentioned in the article. In fact the entire article is about how important and well functioning the industry is in North Carolina. If the N&O article is accurate then there is only one reason why the NCMTA is calling for the licensing of its members.  Licensing laws are a cartel enforcement mechanism meant to keep people, and therefore competition, out of the industry, thereby raising wages. This is the primary reason why licensing laws are instituted and ultimately always supported by those in the industry being regulated. My guess is that the NCMTA sees itself  as the go to organization in setting the licensing standards and the ultimate gatekeeper for the profession. In other words, it sees itself as becoming the de facto cartel enforcement agency much like the AMA and the Bar Association.