Everytime a female artist releases a new single, right before everyone seems to expect it to be some indie alternative smash, ignoring the fact that the purpose of a pop star is to appeal to the masses. Ans people get mad when lead singles are 'generic'. It's pretty stupid IMO.

I think it's mostly the stans who are still living in the past and overestimating the selling power or relevance of their faves. They seem to think their faves are invincible & can do no wrong musically, which is barely ever the case.

I would say so. This is only because all the top pop girls used to produce top notch music/videos/etc.
Todays artist are cute however they're missing the EPICNESS previous pop stars had.

Always. Look at Katy and Bey with the two top eras of 2013/14 - and people are expecting double the sales! We need to learn that the market does not accommodate albums anymore and we need to learn that now is a down time for the Madonna/Britney pop girl as a pop music archetype.