Some music industry executives say Apple's approach has stifled the growth of subscription-based services such as Napster and Rhapsody, from which users "rent" unlimited amounts of music with certain limitations, the Cox News story says. But as the article points out, subscription music download services generated more than $150 million last year, much less than the pay-per-song approach favored by Apple that brought in $800 million.

The truth is that customers have made it clear they prefer to buy music rather than rent it. And, for the most part, subscription services are a failure. In 2006, Apple accounted for 72 percent of overall digital music player sales, according NPD Group market research. As competition increases, the company may not dominate this much forever. But that percentage makes one thing clear: most consumers like the way Apple handles digital music.