I look at it another way. When I play classical music, I find that I develop an appreciation for its nuances that I don't initially have. I start liking every i

I look at it another way. When I play classical music, I find that I develop an appreciation for its nuances that I don't initially have. I start liking every individual line for its melody, whereas at first I only hear one or two things. And the more I listen to music, the more quickly I'm able to break down new music that I listen to. Most of us are born with some ability like this. Exactly why I'm confused as to your initial point: A lot of people just don't have the wherewithal to appreciate melodic music. Melody just escapes them. Now, in modern music there is a branch that focuses on rhythm more than it does on melody (in classical music as well as in pop). However, that branch is still exceedingly rare compared to the rest of what's coming out. People who listen to Lady Gaga, the Jonas Brothers, and J-Lo are all listening to music for its melodies. So it's not the fact that classical music is melodic that turns them off. My suspicion is that a part of it is an inability to really sympathize with the music. Pulsating beats are more instantly relatable than a complex sonata, which can be more readily dismissed as "tinkly classical nonsense" if a listener's apathetic.