How old were you when you stopped listening to Pop Music?

[Barrister]

Depends what you mean by pop music.

Other than a soft spot for any and all 80s music, including the cheese, I've pretty much stuck with alt rock since that term was invented around the early 90s or so.  I still listen to new music (satellite radio is great for that), and by many definitions it can rightly be called pop music.

[Syt]

For the record: I hated the dance pop wave of the mid-90s. At the time we'd go to the dance club in our home town on thursdays - free entry and they played Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Faith No More, Henry Rollins, Clawfinger ....

[Savonarola]

Depends what you mean by pop music.

Songs currently in the Top 40.

[Martinus]

If you mean by "listening to pop music" following charts and knowing what's "hot" and what's not in mainstream music, then it'll be the mid to late 90s, shortly after leaving school and finishing military service. Probably 1996 or 1997, i.e. aged 20/21.

I still check out new bands (rock, pop, metal), but hardly any of them appear in the charts/mainstream media.

Oh, I've never followed the charts like that. I've always found it very boring.

[Syt]

If you mean by "listening to pop music" following charts and knowing what's "hot" and what's not in mainstream music, then it'll be the mid to late 90s, shortly after leaving school and finishing military service. Probably 1996 or 1997, i.e. aged 20/21.

I still check out new bands (rock, pop, metal), but hardly any of them appear in the charts/mainstream media.

Oh, I've never followed the charts like that. I've always found it very boring.

In the 80s I followed them because my teen sister did. Till 1996 was my MTV time, i.e. when nothing was on tv I had MTV on (at the time MTV still showed videos, even classics and was made from the UK), so I kept current then, too.

[Barrister]

Depends what you mean by pop music.

Songs currently in the Top 40.

Top 40 though is pretty damn broad.

I checked out Billboard's Top 40 (well, Top 50 really).

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=j1xTJkQT9HhnBSZHny40LFGtwrpg0MXT3w17gn2wp9h5LhfRTy1C!572034887&g=Singles&f=The+Billboard+Hot+100

Of the Top 10, while I'd heard of many of the artists I couldn't recognize a single song.

But when you get to the Top 50, suddenly a handfull of country acts show up.  I listen to country on occasion, and I recognized those songs.  Also around 40-50 several alt rock acts start to show up, like Coldplay, Plain White T's, even Nickelback.  While those particular artists aren't my absolute faves, it certainly music I listen to on the radio.

So by that definition, I still listen to pop music.   

[Savonarola]

There was only a very small window in my life when I spent any time listening to pop music, basically from the early 90's to the late 90's (so basically my teenage years). I started at grunge and abandoned the format around the second coming of the boy bands. I don't miss it. There's plenty of good music out there, just very little of it on the radio.

You're lucky to have been a teenager then.  I think the early to mid 90s was the high water mark for Top 40 music since at least the early 80s. 

[fhdz]

Songs currently in the Top 40.

Ever feel like a broken record, Sav?

[Syt]

I just checked Austrian charts. First song I know is on 19 (Killers - Human). Same with German charts.

I have an Austrian station I listen to, and while they do play new music, too, they're focusing on rock and classics (it's not uncommon to have Pet Shop Boys sandwiched between Iron Maiden and an Austrian songwriter from the 70s). Their motto is, "We play what we want." Actually, they've even woken me in the morning with the Muppets Show theme.

[vinraith]

There was only a very small window in my life when I spent any time listening to pop music, basically from the early 90's to the late 90's (so basically my teenage years). I started at grunge and abandoned the format around the second coming of the boy bands. I don't miss it. There's plenty of good music out there, just very little of it on the radio.

You're lucky to have been a teenager then.  I think the early to mid 90s was the high water mark for Top 40 music since at least the early 80s. 

I'd go so far as to call it the best since the late 60's/early 70's, but the 80's are a little hard to categorize. So much crap cheese mixed in with a lot of good stuff. As a kid I thought most of it sucked (and frankly most of it did) but the stuff that's stood the test of time is usually at least amusing and frequently actually quite good.

[KRonn]

I stopped having much interest some years ago. I began noticing that the artists of the month that I liked, had gotten their CDs or such, no longer had any appeal to me. Tossed out many CDs, and wondered how I ever liked some of the stuff in the first place. Now there are some popular artists I can't listen to - Springsteen, Madonna (probably like one or two of her songs now), Elton John, Rod Stewart, many others. Never understood the appeal of the Rolling Stones. But each to his/her own; I've just tired of the music. However, there are many individual songs I like from different artists, and a few artists I do like as well.

I'm also usually cynical of the flavor of the month/year boy/girl band, usually made up of people, some talented, others not, made popular by the music industry to make a few bucks from us.

[Tamas]

Marty, I approve Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Rest is pop.

[jimmy olsen]

In the 80s I followed them because my teen sister did. Till 1996 was my MTV time, i.e. when nothing was on tv I had MTV on (at the time MTV still showed videos, even classics and was made from the UK), so I kept current then, too.

People act you can't find music videos on tv anymore, I just counted at least 5-6 channels that only play music videos.

[Syt]

People act you can't find music videos on tv anymore, I just counted at least 5-6 channels that only play music videos.

Can't be me, though, because I constantly point out MTV2, VH-1 and VH-1 Classic whenever that topic comes up.

[vinraith]

In the 80s I followed them because my teen sister did. Till 1996 was my MTV time, i.e. when nothing was on tv I had MTV on (at the time MTV still showed videos, even classics and was made from the UK), so I kept current then, too.

People act you can't find music videos on tv anymore, I just counted at least 5-6 channels that only play music videos.

They keep moving them further up the cable package echelon, though. It's almost impossible to find music videos on basic cable at a normal time of day.