Compare and contrast troubadours with today's singer-songwriters. In what ways are they similar? What differences are there between the troubadour and today's musician?

Similar - - composition of lyrical poetry based on themes found in life like love and tragedy.

Difference - - Singer/songwriters work for a large media audience whereas troubadours worked for the court.

Singer/songwriters and troubadours express emotion and stories through lyrics that are often written in poetic measure. They express the themes of society through their songs. These songs are for entertainment, dance, and expression of love, sadness, or other emotions.

However, singer/songwriters today work for a media audience with purchasing power. They must appeal to all people to sell their product. Troubadours were often employed by the royal court and must appeal to the court. They were smaller in scale for the scope of their lyrics as they worked in villages and local royal events.

Troubadours at the time didn't have to sell records and weren't really concerned with a lot of the bureaucracy which is present today. At the same time, they were just able to sing and dance at the parties where they welt was appropriate. What was also the case was that they wre at time considered to be spies for the different lords and ladies or kings and queens.