The choice is there and so much better than it has ever been.
People might be goods at reminising on the 50s and 60s especially those who haven't lived through them but unless they were giving away records in well stocked shops my guess is that both decades sucked compared to now. I mean if I want to listen to a Russian ska band, African jazz, Bolivian garage punk it's possible with the internet in seconds. Neglecting the fact that much of the music we enjoy today wasn't even in existence back then, you would have needed a phd in music studies to find you the choice you now have with the net.
Those that listen to mainstream radio probably treat music in the same way as I treat cars. I couldn't give a crap as long as they do their job. You can't be a coneseur in everything.