Ask A Columnist: Rolling Stone Executive Editor Joe Levy Answers Your Questions

I'm sure someone's mentioned it. Everyone certainly bitches about it. Of course, MTV cut back on video play ten years ago or more, long before CDs sales fell lower than Britney's panties, and it didn't kill the business then, so it's hard to attribute the slide to just that. And I'm doubting that pumping videos 24/7 on MTV will solve the problem. (You know file sharing and digital copying is the real problem, right? And also, in case there are any Boy Scouts reading this, it's wrong and illegal!) The problem here is that MTV is in the business of selling advertising, not selling music. They can draw more eyeballs with The Hills or Pimp My Ride than they can with Justin Timberlake or Lil' Wayne videos. So that's what they program. Some people say the real problem is the music itself. That if there were a great artist now -- a new Cobain, or Tupac -- then people would buy CDs again. But if there were a new Cobain or Tupac, wouldn't he just screw his record company and leak his music online the way Lil' Wayne does? Just asking.