Shopify invests in music commerce app Single – Music Business Worldwide

Music commerce app Single has secured an investment from online shopping services platform Shopify. 

The company has also launched token-gated commerce and content features to its app.

Nashville-headquartered Single was founded in 2016 by Tommy Stalknecht as a collection of music-specific toolsets for online stores. The company handles merch and record sales, sales reporting, ticketing, live stream concert hosting, and more. 

As of July 2022, Single says it has worked with more than 3,000 artists and labels, and has reported over 20 million record sales, delivered over 5 million digital albums, and facilitated more than 500 live-streamed events with around 1 million tickets sold. 

Single’s clients include Live Nation and EMPIRE, among others.

The company has also worked with such artists as Juice WRLD, Travis Scott, and Harry Styles.

With the release of token-gating content and commerce for the Single app on Shopify, Single claims that “in mere minutes”, a creator can upload any file to the Single Platform to mint it as an NFT on the Solana blockchain.

The company says they can then push it directly to their Shopify storefront to be purchased by fans alongside their existing merch.

Following the purchase of an NFT, fans can use their NFT as a “digital key” to gain access to exclusive offerings from the creator such as merch, audio or video content, live streams, and more.

By integrating Web 3.0 functionalities into its Shopify app, Single claims to be “empowering creatives, artists and musicians with tools to engage with their fans in new ways and to unlock innovative commerce experiences”.

“Web 3.0 is having a huge impact on the broader creator ecosystem, especially in the music space, but the feedback I hear most often is that NFTs don’t inherently have value on their own.”

Tommy Stalknecht, Single

Single Founder and CEO of Single Tommy Stalknecht said: “Web 3.0 is having a huge impact on the broader creator ecosystem, especially in the music space, but the feedback I hear most often is that NFTs don’t inherently have value on their own. 

“A better way to think about tokengating is to compare it to a fan club. A fan purchases an NFT through a creator’s Shopify storefront, which gives them access to exclusive offerings and experiences that only fellow NFT owners have access to.

“Put simply, we’re letting artists create NFTs that actually do things [and] that unlock specific tangible value.” 

“Tokengated commerce offers creators the ability to engage with their true fans by unlocking unique commerce experiences via NFTs.”

Chevy Walcott, Shopify 

Shopify Corporate Development Manager Chevy Walcott added: “Tokengated commerce offers creators the ability to engage with their true fans by unlocking unique commerce experiences via NFTs.

“Shopify sees NFTs as tools for community building and engagement. 

“The launch of Single’s new…features in their Shopify App helps more merchants unlock new and engaging commerce experiences. Our investment in Single and our growing blockchain ecosystem demonstrates our commitment to further grow participation in Web 3.0 and expand commerce possibilities for creatives, artists and musicians.”

 Music Business Worldwide