First and foremost must be Adriano Celintano. The way he uses language and movement is above all others. I also like Eros Ramazotti and Andrea Bocelli for contempory lyrics.

If you want to write songs, I agree with your study pattern. Italian is one of the many languages that humans use to communicate; it can be used in whatever register human beings want to, encompassing formal and 'not formal', or whatever is needed. Italian language is almost as complete as our thought, it can express just (almost) everything, and it is indeed what we enjoy using for transmission of thought from one person to the other, although also body language is a good help in this respect,. The register used in most of the good movies is not a formal one, and you will even enjoy dialogues, which are not present in songs (with some due exceptions); songs are nice in order to help memorize words and pronunciations, but in my view not really for dialogues.

Hey, Well it depends what you like and what you're looking for :-) My absolute favorite is Fabrizio de André, who has a clear voice and pronunciation, but some songs could be a bit difficult. Same goes for Francesco de Gregori. Apart from these folksingers, if you want something more contemporary, Afterhours is a great rockband but I guess they are harder to understand for a foreigner. I don't like the most commercial singers (Ramazzotti, Pausini, and the like), but these are the ones we unfortunately export. Ciao, Massimo.

te aconsejo los clasicos de los anos 70... P.F.M. , Banco Del Muto Soccorso, Le orme, Quella vecchia locanda

"Ciao! Quali canzoni mi consigliereste per studiare l'italiano?"