Best Pop Music Station

The term "pop music" has come to mean a lot of different things over the years--take the name of just about every musical genre in existence, add a hyphen and the word "pop," and it's already its own genre (e.g., punk-pop, dance-pop, jazz-pop, etc.). But at its root, pop music signifies that a lot of people like it--that it's, well, popular. That's why the Top 40 chart was invented: to let us know what the masses are loving at the moment, no matter the subgenre. All of which positions KRQ, Tucson's only radio station that falls into the traditional Top 40 format, as a pretty safe lock in this category; it's simply the best stop on your radio dial to hear a nonstop flow of fluffy hits that define the mainstream musical zeitgeist at any given moment. And if you've gotten behind on the latest hits, fret not: Merely tune in each evening to DJ Seth O'Brien's Top 8 at 8 show, a veritable crib sheet of all you need to know about the current state and slate of pop music. Where else in town are you going to hear Green Day, Paris Hilton, Gnarls Barkley and Justin Timberlake in direct succession?

Runners up:

2. KWMT FM 92.9 (The Mountain), www.929themountain.com

3. KXCI FM 91.3, www.kxci.org