NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In an industry that’s constantly changing, creating a direct connection with fans is more crucial than ever. Ten-time GRAMMY nominee Eric Church is tackling this head-on, gifting his biggest fans over 100,000 digital collectibles — which include a personalized brick deed to his new Nashville venue Chief’s.
Over two decades, Church’s fan base grew exponentially. But with this growth comes challenges to keep the connection personal, a common struggle as artists scale, especially when dependent on Web 2 platforms.
“Finding ways to close this gap is essential,” said Church. “I wanted to show appreciation for those fans that helped me build my career brick by brick.”
The solution: leverage an eco-friendly blockchain to verify and honor longtime supporters. His "Founder’s Bricks" are digital collectibles minted on Solana and issued to fans through Single’s no-code web3 plugin for Shopify — home of his “Church Choir” fan club.
Behind the scenes, Single powers the entire process: digital collectible minting, custodial wallets, distributing collectibles to fan accounts and unlocking gated content & merch.
Their novel custodial wallet allows members to access collectibles behind the familiar Shopify customer account login — with the underlying tech creating a seamless connection between Church and fans.
“We're excited to partner with Eric on pushing the envelope for music's future,” said Tommy Stalknecht, CEO of Single. “Our ethos has always been to build technology that creates stronger, more transparent connections between artists and their fans.”
The Founders Brick does more than recognize fan loyalty; it rewards fans with exclusive content, merch and a tangible stake in Chief’s itself — symbolizing their permanent place in Church's legacy.
It also provides Church a central source of truth for fandom not controlled by any one platform or company. The underlying blockchain gives flexibility for Church to do even more for fans in the future.
“I am always looking for new ways to continue what we’ve always done – putting my fans first,” said Church.
Church plans to regularly drop collectibles that will unlock additional experiences for members across various venues and platforms, leveraging the true power of web3 interoperability.
This future-proofs the fan experience while demonstrating blockchain’s potential to strengthen artist-fan connections when thoughtfully integrated — and with fans top of mind.
How it works
An artist will:
- Add the Single app to their existing Shopify store.
- Log into Single to create a digital collectible with title, description, and artwork.
- Set the price, available quantity, and release date, then select ‘custodial wallet’.
- Choose gated content accessible only by digital collectible owners.
- Launch the digital collectible in their store and notify fans.
A fan will:
- Receive an email announcement and log into the membership.
- Get redirected to claim their "Founder's Brick."
- The brick is added to their account, instantly unlocking perks
About Single:
Founded in 2016, Single has been focusing on helping artists for more than 6 years. Since launch, the company has worked with more than 5,000 artists and labels across more than 100 countries. The Single platform has reported more than 20 million record sales, the creation of more than 10 million fan profiles, the delivery of more than 5 million digital albums, and the facilitation of more than 500 live streamed events with more than 1 million tickets sold. Founded and headquartered in Nashville, TN, Single continues to grow through a singular focus on helping artists make a living from their work.
Find Single:
Website: single.xyz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/singlemusic
About Eric Church:
A seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner (including the 2020 award for Entertainer of the Year) and 10-time GRAMMY nominee, Church has amassed a passionate fan base around the globe known as the Church Choir, plus a critically acclaimed catalog of music. Known for his tenacity on the road, his recent The Outsiders Revival Tour earned rave reviews as he brought a rotating lineup of emerging artists along for the first fully-outdoor tour of his career. His prior outing, the 55-city The Gather Again Tour, offered fans an in-the-round arena show and earned the 2022 Billboard Music Award for Top Country Tour. Church is currently working on new music as the follow up to his most recent chart-topping project, the Heart & Soul triple album, which featured the results of a marathon session during which he spent nearly a month writing and recording a song per day while sequestered in rural North Carolina. This followed his Gold-certified Desperate Man, which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album (his third nod in the category) and prior releases including the Platinum-certified Sinners Like Me (“How ’Bout You,” “Guys Like Me”), Carolina (“Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Love Your Love the Most”) and Mr. Misunderstood (“Record Year,” “Round Here Buzz”), the Double-Platinum certified The Outsiders (“Like a Wrecking Ball,” “Talladega”) and the 3x Platinum-certified Chief (“Springsteen,” “Drink In My Hand”), as well as 30 Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum certified songs. Church is also a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, a co-owner of the iconic Field & Stream brand, has his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” his own liquor offering, Whiskey JYPSI, and will soon open Chief’s, a six-story venue on Nashville’s famed lower Broadway.
For more information, visit www.ericchurch.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter @ericchurch and Instagram@ericchurchmusic.
Press Contact for Single:
marketing@singlemusic.com
Press Contacts for Eric Church:
ebie@ebmediapr.com | janet@ebmediapr.com
