how is it that i am allowed to download and listen to the licensed bearshare premium songs without paying for them? isnt that what the RIAA is trying to prevent, or is the fact that i cant add this music to my iTunes all they were trying to stop

Yes, looks like they are steering towards the Microsoft Zune instead.
At least that's the DRMed file format they are renting music with.
I think you can burn CDs of those low-fi downloads for a little more money too.

Are you still on that free 30-day trial period?

i did just sign up for bearshare so if i automatically get a 30 day trial than i am probably still on it. does this mean that after 30 days i will not be able to listen to the music i have downloaded and i will need to set up a way to pay bearshare for it?

I think that's the general idea. On the other hand, you could roll back to a
version of BearShare that still works: Sticky: BearShare has been sabotaged.