Real, raw and unfiltered? Authenticity helps female singers rule the charts

Raw emotion, confessional lyrics and sharing everything in videos online.

In 2026, fans want their pop stars honest, raw and real.

And as Olivia Rodrigo, arguably the queen of the new, unfiltered breed of female singers, looks set to storm the charts with her latest album which, in her own words, chronicles a "love story that falls apart".

She's not the only one.

Lola Young and Olivia Dean are also among the singers whose perceived authenticity has won them millions of fans and multiple prestigious awards.

It seems to be the end result of a shift where the music industry has gone from a world run by record labels and managers to one where artists appear to control the narrative.

How real those stories are is something we may never know - even Olivia Rodrigo has previously admitted some of her songs aren't inspired by her own experiences.

But there's clearly a demand for the confessional style.

BBC Newsbeat's been speaking to artists and those who work behind-the-scenes on helping them to build their images about the opportunities it creates and the demands and challenges it presents.

British singer Alessi Rose, a BBC Radio 1 Sound of 2026 nominee, says pop music did not use to be seen as a place to process serious thoughts and emotions.

"Whereas now there are so many pop stars that speak about things that are so personal and so intricate and niche.

"It's so great that so many people relate to it," she tells Newsbeat.

The 23-year-old's poetic observations on heartbreak and self-doubt have led to her being dubbed by some as "Derbyshire's Olivia Rodrigo".

Rose's latest single, Skin, explores "feeling not quite myself and cycling through all these thoughts that the average teenager to 20-something is constantly going through".

Record label owner and artist coach Stevie Red McMinn feels fans want "more transparency" from artists and for "something to feel real and raw".

For a long time, he says, the music industry felt "curated and almost to a certain degree manufactured".

McMinn says even 10 years ago record labels were able to control the narrative more and decide how an artist would be presented to the world.

"It was sort of very gatekeepery as the only way that you could get your music or anything in front of fans was by going through specific channels, which were record labels and the media," he tells Newsbeat.

"Whereas with social media, you don't have to sign to a record label, you don't have to do press interviews, you can basically just speak to your fans."

Singer Rose says her honest outpourings aren't just limited to her songwriting, and she is "someone who's very myself online".