I have to rant against RealMedia's spyware policy and therefore recommend against using RealMedia whenever possible. This trend unfortunately seems to be spreading to other players and services.
The general concept of I-Tunes I believe is great overall but haven't checked lately to see how they hold up in the features department as far as listening to (usable) samples, finding related music etc..RIAA's push to block music databases of this type would affect that in the near term at least I would imagine. Again, part of the ongoing struggle to balance artist and industry rights against marketplace concerns. Without being able to listen to music samples freely I am less likely to purchase and assume the same is true of pretty much anyone who listens to non mainstream music. This of course could definitely stifle creativity in artists as they push to get their music samples heard through the only available channels, those put forth by the industry as discussed here "Webcaster Alliance Threatens To Sue RIAA".
As for RIAA and the like, I believe it is important to be able to protect copywrite material but unfortunately a battle has evolved with industry concerns on one side and consumers on the other. This battle I believe is ultimately not good for either party. Hopefully when it all shakes out, there will be a balance between industry, consumer and artists concerns. The ultimate folly has been where industry proponents (RIAA) have tried such ridiculous measures as to get legislation passed where they could search computer systems across the internet without any search warrants, evidence of wrongdoing or liabilities if they did damage. This being attached to a 'terrorist' bill of all things. A second item that this same group tried to get passed was to be able to charge (tax, except it was industry not government) individuals a fee for their putting up *their own* materials on the internet for others use *even if the artist charged nothing* and of course without the RIAA having had anything to do with providing said material. According to this article, count of lawsuits by the RIAA the is up to 10,300 with 2,200 settled (as of the date of the article.) Which has this person upset with the tax money used to process said suits. Of course, what has some people up in arms are RIAA tactics that are referred to as deceptive and fraudulent (re: article.)
The RIAA SoundExchange and RoyaltyLogic's View and depict some of the battles going on regarding webcasting. The link I can't find is where supposedly the RIAA was trying to get included *all* webcasts, even those of independant artists they didn't represent. This would effectivly stop Johnny and his buddies from providing their music through the internet unless they provided some mechanism to pay the RIAA tax.
Don't get me wrong, I think during shakeouts like this, both sides try and do some ridiculous things. Luckily, life usually balances out. Without some oversite by concerned individuals and organizations there's no guarantees things will come out balanced though. So, thank you everyone on all sides who are working for a workable and equitable solution.
One last note, without artists being able to get reimbursed for their work, the creativity stops.
Internet Music Rights for Public Broadcasting
ASCAP Internet Licensing: Frequently Asked Questions: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
EFF - Electronic Frontier Foundation: consumer rights org
New Scientist: Internet music piracy is not responsible for declining CD sales