How to prevent iTunes from launching when play/pause key on Macbook/iMac keyboard is pressed
This is quite annoying for Spotify/Hulu users. Even if you have iTunes closed, when you try to play music in Spotify by pressing the play key on the keyboard, iTunes launches and starts playing too. Essentially hijacking the key.
Solution is, keep QuickTime X open (without any files) when iTunes is closed. Then iTunes won’t launch when you press the play/pause keys.
Another excellent workaround is provided with a Python script which is essentially an iTunes launcher which doesn’t launch the application if Spotify is running. It is found here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2122639&start=30&tstart=0