It must suck to be Madonna. She has legions of adoring fans, control over her career and access to the pretty much anything her heart desires. But then, there is the way that reviews of her performances, even when positive, always come off as snarky and back-handed.
So, when people talk about Coachella becoming more mainstream, its a fate that lands squarely on Madonna's shoulders. Sure, Kanye is mentioned too, but in passing, and the review of Saturday's events note that his appearance at the festival was one of his "most significant" performances. But, for some reason, Kanye doesn't make pop-skeptics cringe the way Madonna does. For some reason, hip-hop is not considered pop, even though its current form definitely does rely on the classic structure of the pop song, its a multi-billion dollar industry that dominates the Billboard Top 40 and its influence penetrates the work of shamelessly pop artists (i.e. Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake).
This isn't just about Kanye and Madonna. I can't find any mention of James Blunt (did he cancel?) and that dude just performed on Oprah Winfrey. How's that for pop? She Wants Revenge has an album on the Billboard charts and, in my own club observations, has the one song that everyone wants to hear ("Tear You Apart"). Depeche Mode, oddly enough still viewed as a cult band, consistently has chart success. Franz Ferdinand's breakthrough hit "Take Me Out" can still be heard pretty much everywhere. Matisyahu? Well, let's put it this way, my father, who tries to ignore anything that isn't Thee Midnighters, Blood Sweat and Tears, CCR or the Nuge, knows who this dude is. Then there are Daft Punk, who have racked up its own fair share of hits over time, and Massive Attack, whose song "Teardrop" is now the theme for House. I haven't even touched on the bands that aren't considered pop in the US, but are certainly pop successes in the UK (Scissor Sisters, anyone?). Certainly, this year's line-up at Coachella featured a considerable amount of artists with pop leanings.
Then you have Madonna, whose worst albums still sell more than the average musician can fathom. This is a woman whose career is essentially rooted in New York's early-1980s disco scene, who has, since the beginning, picked up on everything interesting happening in the club scene and appropriated it for her advantage. Some people complain about that. Personally, I think that it shows great foresight, not just as a musician, but as a businesswoman. Pop, as a description of Madonna, does not even begin to describe what she does. It is definitely appropriate to use it as a partially explanation of her music, as with the bands listed above, but does not encapsulate the whole of her work.