Since the twentieth century, contemporary music has been a source of controversial perceptions and standpoints. This study aims to explore young music students' perception of the term 'contemporary music' and anticipate possible directions for improvement in music education in Armenia. Based on her pedagogical experience, and a scientific literature review, the author attempted to describe the issue in terms of perception and prejudices. A questionnaire was used to conduct the survey among music students to gather data from respondents about their insights on the subject. The findings indicate it is mostly a combination of mixed ideas of contemporary academic and popular music formed as a result of the learner's personal musical experience. The result reveals that it is possible to change the attitude of students to a positive one by actively gaining the experience of contemporary music performance. The author has also formulated observations and recommendations, which should be taken into account for further research.