The BRIT Awards 2021 with Mastercard has today revealed its plans to connect with a global social audience on May 11th. As The O2 arena welcomes back live music with an audience of 4,000 fans, the BRITs social channels will be maximising output on all platforms to bring those at home the ultimate viewpoint of this year's ceremony.

The focus for this year's digital campaign has been to celebrate the journey to the show with exclusive announcements, artist partnerships and influencer activity building anticipation for the event.

On the night, viewers at home will be able to follow Red Carpet coverage with a live stream on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The stream, presented by Yasmin Evans and AJ Odudu, will showcase the best of the red carpet and hear from guests, nominees and performers at the start of the night.

International fans will then follow the show on the BRITs YouTube channel in a stream presented by Chelcee Grimes and Arielle Free. The show, available to fans outside of the UK, will celebrate the best of the BRITs and keep conversation flowing through the night.

Inside the arena, the BRITs social team will be covering all angles with dedicated photography and social capture points feeding into live commentary that won't skip a beat. Acclaimed photographer Danny Kasirye will be positioned to capture exclusive portraits with the winners after they receive their trophy.

The BRITs will also be encouraging the audience at home to get dressed for the occasion with a series of Get Ready With Me activations, shared through influencer channels including LeoniJoyce, Nikki Lilly and Matthew & Ryan. The show will also be supported by GIPHY, who will be live clipping GIFs of all the best moments for immediate use. Twitter users will also be able to come together with an exclusive Watch Party.

This year, fans can prepare for the show with a new podcast, BRITs Top Table with Mastercard, presented by Munya Chawawa and Sideman. The podcast, which is available in the Amazon Music app, is premiered exclusively every Thursday on Amazon Music's Twitch channel, and features all the chat you'd expect from the night itself with guests including Griff, Jordan North and Young T & Bugsey.

Headline sponsor Mastercard is using the idea of music connecting us to underpin their campaign this year, led by the Mastercard #BRITsMOVER Challenge on TikTok, working with street dancer and choreographer Ashley Banjo to encourage users to have a go with some of the best submissions featuring in its ITV TV idents on the night of the BRITs. So far the challenge has had over 2.3 billion views and counting!

In support of The BRITs' digital-first approach, Mastercard also created first-of-their-kind audio connected LED facemasks which react in real time to music. These limited edition facemasks were first tried out by BRITs host Jack Whitehall and press, and will be available for cardholders via Priceless.com on 20th May.

At home, music lovers can get involved with exclusive content with top artists on Mastercard's social channels @MastercardUK and Priceless.com as well as the Mastercard BRITs in a Box experience – a celebration of the show at home in style, with access to a virtual Mastercard pre-show party featuring live performances from Tom Walker, a previous BRIT Award winner, and Hamzaa. Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to Mastercard's socials on BRITs night to find out who will be crowned the winners of Mastercard Album and British Single with Mastercard.

For a second year running, Amazon Music are the Official Digital Music Partner for the BRITs. Amazon Music is the home of the official BRITs playlists which are available to listen to in the app right now. The BRITs digital music sponsor has also teamed up with KISS to offer fans the chance to win an incredible array of prizes. From BRITs At Home Kits, including a DJ deck, a karaoke system, an Echo speaker and more, to the opportunity to virtually meet Joel Corry and attend one of his shows later this year, Amazon Music are helping bring fans closer to the event from the comfort of their home. Tune in to the Amazon Music social channels for exclusive content in the run up to the show and live commentary from the red carpet. After the show, Amazon Music will be the only place to listen back to the live performances from the evening, allowing fans to relive the event again and again.

The build-up to this year's event has been supported by a range of digital and social surprises designed to delight the show's social audience. For the first year ever, the nominations were revealed exclusively by Nick Grimshaw and BRITs Rising Star winner Griff in a live stream on all platforms and nominees were sent gift boxes to mark the start of their journey to the show. The performances of Dua Lipa, Headie One, Griff and Olivia Rodrigo were announced as social-first exclusives reflecting the direct relationship the artists have fostered at a time when live connections have been so limited.

The BRIT Awards 2021 digital campaign is led by Kate Wyn Jones, Business Development Director at EMI Records and BPI Director of Digital Giuseppe De Cristofano who jointly co-chair The BRIT Awards 2021 Digital Committee working with content agency Somethin' Else led by Exec Producer Zosia Morris and Senior Producer Darren Struwig.

Kate Wyn-Jones, Co-Chair of the BRITs Digital Committee -
"This has been a year like no other and whilst we have faced unprecedented challenges in the journey to The BRITs, it has allowed us to reinvigorate and evolve how we engage artists and most importantly fans along the way!

The tenacity and creativity of the entire team has meant that we have delivered some incredibly impactful moments ahead of the show and we are so excited to continue to do so."

Giuseppe De Cristofano, BPI Director of Digital - Co-Chair of the BRITs Digital Committee -
"Music has played such an important role in getting people through lockdown, with social media helping fans and artists to stay closely connected. With so much interest in this year's exciting line up of diverse BRITs nominees and performers, as The O2 hosts its first live audience in over a year, our social media campaign will again play its part in growing the show's global profile and reach.

"I am grateful to our BRITs Digital Committee and its co-chair, Kate Wyn-Jones, for helping to shape a fantastic campaign which will allow us to reach the widest possible audience."

Zosia Morris, Executive Producer at Somethin' Else -
"For The BRITs 2021, we've been driven by celebrating the return of live music alongside artists and their fans on social. We're extremely proud of what we've achieved in collaboration with Giuseppe and Kate whilst working under circumstances like no other! Our campaign has seen continued global growth and engagement across our core platforms, and we're very excited to deliver unmissable, exclusive coverage for those watching at home."