Visionary and tireless innovator, MFN (Michele Forte Natali) is a key figure in the digital evolution of music and visual art, with over thirty years of international experience spanning promotion, distribution, content, production and technology. He has worked with more than 200 global artists, including Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones), Aerosmith, Courtney Love, Craig David, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Aqua, The Wallflowers, and The Roots, contributing to their success across Milan, London, Los Angeles, and New York.
His career began in the early 1990s as Head of Promotion at Carrere/Ricordi, where he pioneered communication strategies well before the digital revolution. He later refined his strategic and analytical approach to the industry at AV Arts, where he learned to apply advanced planning tools under the mentorship of visionary entrepreneur Massimo Rendo (Lindsay Kemp, Knitting Factory, Uzeda). After a role at Sony Music as Product Manager for the Alternative department, he founded No Way/Free db’s Record (Fluxus, Vanity-x, Soluzioni Chimiche, Rossomaltese, Achtung Banditi) an independent label and talent incubator in collaboration with Sony. Since then, his work has consistently bridged creativity, innovation, and the market.
He held a key marketing position at Universal Music and later founded Semilla, the first Italian agency to use Street Teams as a music marketing tool—eventually evolving into the well-known platform Team World. His entrepreneurial drive led him to Edel, MAS, and in 2004 to launch The Orchard’s operations in Italy, securing early distribution deals with telcos and content aggregators, anticipating the rise of OTTs in cultural distribution.
Over the following decade, his activities expanded across Europe and Ibiza, working with Jammit, Soundfarm Studios (Etnica, Geffen), Mobile Roadie, Believe Digital, Ditto Music, and Royalty Exchange, where he served as a Content Acquisition Specialist—operating at the intersection of music, fintech, and the copyright economy.
MFN is one of the few Italian professionals with a truly transnational vision of the music industry. His expertise spans digital distribution, rights management, and innovative monetization models such as tokenized royalties and secondary markets for content. He has led projects involving publishing assets, affiliate strategies, catalog development, and marketing campaigns.
Beyond music, MFN is also a writer and sci-fi storyteller. He publishes cosmic and spiritually infused fiction at scifistoriesonline.com, blending imagination with philosophical depth. His creative universe extends into algorithmic art, showcased at uniqueartworksonline.com, a gallery of AI-generated works exploring the frontier between code and contemplation.
A pop culture and content strategy expert, MFN embodies the post-industrial music innovator—fluent in both artistic and business languages, capable of aligning creators, developers, and investors toward shared goals.
His current mission is clear: to build a sustainable direct-to-fan model that enables artists to forge authentic, independent, and lasting connections with their audiences—transforming fanbases into active and empowered communities. A career shaped across Milan, Ibiza, London, and the U.S., driven by vision, intuition, and bold thinking. He doesn’t follow change: he anticipates it.
paulsmith65@protonmail.ch