Cantautori

"Cantautori" (Italian plural; the singular is "cantautore") is the Italian expression corresponding to singer-songwriters in English. The word is a portmanteau of "cantante" (singer) and "autore" (writer).

Although the term, in theory, might refer to all those who compose and then perform their own songs, including, say, medieval troubadors, the term in contemporary Italian refers to a large number of relatively recent Italian popular singers − archetypically those who rose to prominence during the student protests of the 1960s and '70s − who write songs that may or may not be particularly melodic but "always" have social or political relevance. For the purposes of comparison, Bob Dylan would be an American "cantautore". Among the best known of Italian "cantautori" are Francesco Guccini, Claudio Lolli, Lucio Dalla, Francesco De Gregori, and Fabrizio De André.

Of the younger generation of artists, Samuelele Bersani, Jovanotti, Daniele Silvestri, Luciano Ligabue and Vinicio Capossela have often been tagged as modern "cantautori".

The Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan cognates are "cantautor". The French is "chantauteur". The Romanian is "cantautor".