The music that we hear in our teens is generally what sticks for life. As Mike said, there is great music being made today, you just have to find it. On the more commercial side of things I find Coldplay to be on-par with some of the great bands from the 60's and 70's. Viva la Vida is a great album. There are plenty of more obscure artists as well. For instance if you haven't listened to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones...well, you should:
Sex In A Pan (Live from Bonnaroo 2011) - YouTube
Most of the big "pop" music has always been crap. It wasn't different in the 60's or 70's - plenty of really bad stuff. I do however think that pop music as an art form peaked in the early/mid 70's though. There were songs that were produced to within an inch of their lives - strings, horns, crazy thick arrangements. Also pop radio was much more eclectic back then and if you listened to American Top 40 you could hear pop, rock, country, soul, etc.
Metropole Orchestra, Vince Mendoza arranging and conducting. You can get the Jim Beard/Vince Mendoza album on iTunes. It is amazing.