2 issues here that seem to be worth highlighting:
1) Whether Rock Band/Guitar Hero actually encourages gamers to try playing an instrument for real
2) Does the music industry actually benefit from sales of RB/GH, other than to encourage bands' popularity
On #1, well, from personal experience I have been playing these games since 2004. And I recently acquired an SG to try and push myself to learn how to play the guitar licks I truly like... No, I can't do Master of Puppets yet, but I would like to persevere...
What I will say is that RB/GH mostly helps by exposing gamers to a vast variety of bands that many gamers, especially Singaporeans, would otherwise never listen to (what with the general populace's fixation on mainstream R&B and Chinese pop...) Many of my friends never dared to listen to Metallica cuz they thought it was too much heavy noise. PUH-LEASE! Nor had they had heard stuff from 30 Seconds to Mars, Lacuna Coil or even Lynyrd Skynyrd. Initially all they would ask for was Blink 182 or Linkin Park... cuz that's all the rock we ever hear on the radio *facepalm*
Additionally, players do cultivate a sense of rhythm and timing. While the benefits of fake guitar playing are more limited - in fact I have a little trouble adapting to real guitar because I've picked up a bad fretting habit - the drums are still a very close simulation of the real thing when playing Expert mode.
One more thing about the RB/GH phenomenon is that at the end of the day, it provides a stress-free low-skill environment for friends and family to jam together WITHOUT demanding the investment of years of practice to know how to play a real instrument. If the gamer cultivates a greater love of music because of these games, then it's up to the individual's own determination to see that passion through, cuz playing a real instrument isn't easy... as I'm finding out lol
I guess the main thing here is #2: do the artists featured in these games benefit? YES.
Simple reason being royalties: the backers of these games (eg. Activision and MTV Games) have to cough up a lump sum of royalties before many of the established artistes like Coldplay will pony up the master tracks required to create a single song on RB/GH.
And this is just for the on-disc tracks! Both RB and GH have a DLC (downloadable content) store, much like iTunes where you can download new tracks to play as they become available. And they are NOT cheap: one miserable song usually goes for US$1.99! Iron Maiden just put out a 11-song DLC pack going for US$19.99 - you can buy 2 real albums with that money! Maybe two!
Of course, Maiden and the other artists who offer DLC only get a small slice of that $20 at the end of the day, but when multiplied by the MILLIONS of Maiden fans who play Rock Band... you do the math and tell me if it's beneficial for them! The same goes for any other band that has a decent following.
I hope this helped give you guys a better idea of how this music game phenomenon will really help spread the love of music, and maybe help keep our favourite artists in business
