Bucks Music Group's David Arnold Soundtracks Mastercard's Brit Awards Anniversary Piece

Nicola Grant, head of marketing and communications at Mastercard UK and Ireland said: “The Listening Room shows how music has the power to move us, inspire us and most importantly, bring us together and start a conversation when it’s most needed. We set out to truly start something priceless – a new beginning between two people who have stopped speaking. As we celebrate 20 years of sponsoring The BRITs, it feels like the perfect way to celebrate the profound effect music can have on us.”

David Arnold says: “Music is an extraordinary catalyst. If you have the willingness to change, it’s amazing how music can help make that change happen. For me, as a writer it has to be personal. Music has to be about how one feels and how other people feel when hearing that note, instrument or melody. I was asked by Mastercard specifically to create a piece of music that might actually spark a connection and start a conversation. I like challenging, unique and unusual things and this is certainly that! It felt like a project that puts music squarely at its centre with the intention of directly connecting with people in an honest and open way. The effect of music is that it amplifies, resonates, agrees with and underlines the feelings that people already have within them before they listen. In the process of listening, it can reveal new emotions.”

Throughout 20 years of sponsoring The BRIT Awards, Mastercard has been proud to support the BRIT Awards charity The BRIT Trust and its beneficiaries, Nordoff Robbins, the largest independent music therapy charity in the UK, dedicated to changing the lives of vulnerable and isolated people, and helping them to communicate and improve their wellbeing through skilled use of music; and The BRIT School, the performing arts and technology school developing the musical stars of the future.

Emily Grimes, Therapist at Nordoff Robbins says: The power of music can be incredible. Music affects us physically and it has a lot to do with our sense of identity –it can help bring people together through shared experiences, like singing in choirs or playing in bands. Music can also act as a powerful reminder of people or places and shared music can be a significant part of being together. It is linked to our sense of who we are, where we come from and how we wish to be perceived.”