I don't disagree with you Dee, though the results of the study seem more a condemnation of what's considered popular music than a challenge to modern music itself.

There's also the matter of defining popular music as "what gets played on the radio" and the broader definition which would encompass a wide variety of bands that play styles that are clearly in the "pop music" arena. By that definition, the one applicable to musical styles, not the fickle tastes of key demographics manipulated by big budget corporations, there is plenty of music being made that challenges the popular norms.