No, it's not the only thing. There are plenty of simple songs I like, and there is plenty of complex music that is crap. However, ability to appreciate complex music indicates to me that the listener has more sophisticated musical tastes (generally) - and that, in turn, tells me the listener will tend to have a wee bit more gray matter between the ears. Basically, I use musical tastes as a sort of social barometer (though by no means the only one). A population in which, say, Schoenberg or Coltrane, was the most popular musical artist, is probably going to be a nicer population to live amongst, than a population in which, say, Johnny Cash or Fats Domino, were the most popular artists.
And it's not that Johnny Cash and Fats Domino don't have their own virtues (I actually like both), but their music doesn't tend to be very complex. Not much gray matter needed to appreciate it. If society's most popular stuff was also the most simple, to me that reflects on society.
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