I have found a lot of modern music using hooks from old pop songs to catch new listeners. I don't much like the practice.

On your original point, even discordant music can grow on you. Pino Forastiere uses a lot of dischord and I didn't like it at all at first. But I let it play out a bunch of times as there were so many other good qualities that I loved about the album. It didn't take long to start understanding what he was trying to do with the dichord and from there it made sense and I could hear it in context and enjoy it.