Storefront Music’s Matt Nelson On Leadership and Caring

Matt Nelson is, above all else, a people person. It’s evident in his approach to running Storefront Music, which he joined last year as Managing Director. It’s illustrated by how he likes to produce music tracks – with real people playing real instruments, as often as possible. And anyone who’s seen him in action presiding over the AMP Awards for Music & Sound as the Association of Music Producers’ National Board President knows that Matt’s got an empathetic feel for making people comfortable and relaxed.

At Storefront, where he’s also on track to being named a partner, Matt is tasked with expanding the studio’s work in the advertising/branding sector. Most recently Executive Creative Producer at Yessian Music, he brings to SFM his extensive experience in audio post production, music supervision, film/TV score production, immersive audio, advertising agency music supervision, and radio production.

And did we mention he’s also a musician himself? It’s true, he’s been playing the slide trombone since he was a kid, and holds a Bachelor’s in Music Engineering and a Master's in Trombone Performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He’s been involved in lots of high-profile projects during the course of his career, including Coke’s “Masterpiece” spot, a major award-winner in 2023, and he produced the music for Wieden+Kennedy’s “#WannaSprite” animated holiday spot featuring LeBron James and D.R.A.M., among other gems. He’s also produced work for experiential installations and produced the scores for feature films. 

The Howler sat him down recently for a conversation about his role at Storefront, his leadership of AMP and his feelings about how we need to take care of our feelings. He’s what he had to say:

You’re a second generation producer – your father worked in commercial production for many years. So how did you end up on the music side of the business?

Matt: I gravitated towards music early on. I started performing when I was nine, and was taking private lessons from the start. Even at that age I listened to music and would think about what kind of scene from a movie or show it would pair well with. Both my parents really supported my love of music. They’d attend all my concerts and take me to auditions, and my very first concert was to see Green Day with my Dad when I was in fourth grade. 

I never really considered music in advertising as a career until well after grad school. I’d worked as a PA on set for a few years and started to recognize the opportunities as I built my network and gradually got more involved in the business. It all really became clear to me when I started on the music team at JWT. I knew it was my path.

You’ve been outspoken about the importance of taking care of your emotional and mental health in this industry, which can be rather cold at times in terms of how it treats people. What are your thoughts on how well the ad industry cares for its people? 

Matt: That’s right, and I speak openly to destigmatize it. We all deal with mental wellness in our own ways, but importantly it affects everyone. It’s called the human condition for a reason. I think in a lot of ways, because many of us now recognize and discuss the toll this career takes, things have gotten better. Specifically when it comes to trends in how we treat each other on a day to day level. That said, we’re in advertising, and it’s a huge part of the capitalist machine we live in. The machine doesn’t leave much space for mindfulness, nor does the bottom line care if you’re having a hard time. 

It comes down to leadership, in my opinion. The people I find are happiest in this career have leadership that recognizes the toll and creates a work environment that’s supportive and understanding. It’s something I think about often in my role as Managing Director and put into practice with my team. A balanced, rested team that feels empowered will perform better than a dejected and exhausted team, eleven times out of ten. In our business this should be encouraged, if only because the very first thing that goes out the window when someone’s struggling with exhaustion and mental wellness is creative thinking capacity!

What attracted you to Storefront? What prompted you to make the move from Yessian?

Matt: Typically when you make changes like this, things are not better or worse, they’re just different. I was ready for different, and I was ready for an opportunity to put my leadership skills to work. I’ve spent my life building these skills, as first chair in my trombone section, as a Boy Scout, on the executive committee of my fraternity, and more recently through my role as National President and board member at the Association of Music Producers. Storefront was looking for what I have to offer, and I was looking for an opportunity to step out on my own a bit more. I’m very happy here, and feel like this is the right environment for me.

Storefront’s John ‘Scrapper’ Sneider has led some rockin’ bands that have performed at the AMP Awards galas. In addition to having co-founded an advertising music company with Adam Elk, he’s a working musician who plays regularly. How does this vibe influence the way Storefront works?

Matt: This is a good question. Both Adam and Scrapper have a whole life outside of Storefront performing their own music passions. It comes through in our work in a number of ways. We’re a musician-and-production-quality first company. Scrapper leads most of the creative direction and very effectively makes talent decisions, briefs composers/musicians, and closely manages feedback. We also lean on our collective network of musicians and singers to do as much live/human production as possible. We also get hands on and will work with our composer roster to help produce when it takes things to the next level. Everyone at the company has a strong music background, even our dub room assistant, so it’s a group effort led by Scrapper.

So that’s what sets Storefront apart? 

Matt: Yep. Our approach is, if we can record it live, if we can use just the right microphone, if we can work with a composer who’s an expert in the style we’re producing, then we’ll make it happen. It’s an investment for us, even if we go out of pocket. The ultimate compliment we can get, even if we are not awarded a job, is to hear ‘your stuff sounded so much better than what we normally hear.’ A couple examples would be working with Wynton Marsalis’s arranger to serve as co-composer with Scrapper on big band projects, and the time we recorded live accordion on the fly the night before a spot mixed. I think this attention to detail and drive to ‘do it right’ is what sets us apart.

The company just announced the hire of Lena Adelman as Head of Partnerships and Producer, as well as the promotion of producer Katie Theobalds. What does this new position mean for the company? And as an accomplished violinist, do you expect Lena will be jamming with Scrapper at an upcoming awards show gala?

Matt: We’re very excited to have Lena joining the team. We’re equally excited to see Katie growing into an exceptional creative music producer. Both of them support me and make up our core production team, with Katie covering more of the project management and creative producing. Lena, who comes from publishing and executing large brand partnerships, is learning the production ropes from us both and opening doors to areas of the business that SFM never even considered tapping into. It’s a very exciting time for us, and with this team we have the foundation to make amazing things happen.

Speaking of AMP, your term as National President is up in May, just in time for the 2026 AMP Awards for Music & Sound. What has AMP been up to lately in terms of educating its members about changes in the music industry? 

Matt: How much time do you have? We’re still focused on our core missions of advocacy and education. We continue to schedule educational panels such as our upcoming music business talk at Berklee College of music and recently hosted a unique panel about Podcast production. We have our Social Inclusion Scholarship that is currently fundraising for the next recipient. We have been doing more networking and community building events as well. (Join us at SXSW on March 13th!)

On the trade organization side, we recently discovered a new more affordable E&O insurance company and informed members as such. But the most important thing I’ve led has been working with Omnicom and ProTunes, a third-party company that will be managing all music licensing and payments for the entire holding company and its agencies, to ensure the standard contracts and payment process is as fair as possible for music companies. On behalf of AMP’s National Board and our membership, I’ve been working directly with the AICP legal team, the head of music at Omnicom and the CEO of ProTunes on these negotiations. We hope to have this wrapped up soon as my final act of business as AMP National President. 

What do you see as the biggest challenges to the independent music and sound community as you get ready to hand the baton off to your successor this spring? 

Matt: Well, the ProTunes negotiation is an example of why we exist as a trade organization, and why AMP is so important. That, along with the growth of the AMP Awards. The hardest thing I’ve found is getting the word out about everything we’re doing and getting people involved, so thank you for helping by calling attention to this. We’ll always work for our community, and whether someone is a member or not, they’ll benefit from our efforts. 

That said, we can do so much more with a larger membership base. If you’ve seen our growth and the enthusiasm behind the organization in recent years, you can see the potential. What I have to say to people on the music and sound side, and those companies who are not yet members, please join us and get involved with your local chapter. Many hands make for light work. We’ll all be better off for it in the long run.