To account for cognitive and affective responses to popular music, a pilot study used an information processing model to show that affect results largely from the activation of affect-laden schemas by the music stimulus. Subjects, 196 students from an introductory course in interpersonal communication at a medium-sized university, listened to a tape of music (consisting of six songs which were expected to be familiar and six which were not) in a private listening booth, and then completed a questionnaire. Factor analysis was used to derive two dimensions of music sophistication (participation and involvement), which, along with song familiarity, were expected to relate to thoughts and feelings generated by the song segment. Findings indicated: (1) that music involvement was positively related to the number of subject thoughts for unfamiliar songs; and (2) some support for schematic processing of music. (Eleven tables of data are included, and 25 references are appended.) (MS)