Welcome to Mastercard House – where GRAMMY dreams really do come true.

With the GRAMMY Awards returning to New York for the first time in 15 years, we decided to get real, shaking up the musical celebration and redefining the privilege.

Imagine a visibly-arresting, heavily branded, block-long installation in the heart of New York City — the exclusive home to intimate performances by GRAMMY nominees, music legends and emerging artists. Where music fans could walk the same red carpet as GRAMMY performers, attend insider talks with artists, shop for rare vinyl records and famous photographs of GRAMMY artists through history, cut their own performances on vinyl, and secure a lounge seat at the best party of GRAMMY week.

What clout would you need to get in? Mastercard House was free to anyone with a Mastercard. Mastercard cardholders could even jump the velvet rope in front of waiting VIPs. Totally priceless.

We conceived, curated and assembled Mastercard House, a block-long branded experience in the heart of New York, and gave Mastercard holders exclusive access to five days and nights of pure music magic.

Our kick-off event featured multiple GRAMMY nominee SZA sharing her empowering stories, and taking our stage with five emerging artists making their own breakout performances. Intimate shows by major recording artists and promising newcomers alike made The Mastercard House the focus of GRAMMY-week chatter.

Exclusive Q&A panels featured top names and compelling GRAMMY-insider subjects, including “My First GRAMMY Memory,” “The Influence of Hip-Hop’s Birthplace,” and “Behind the Scenes: Creating Award-Winning Music.”

Using Masterpass, visitors purchased iconic photos signed by legendary music photographers and rare vinyl albums (at prices common 25 years ago), and Prabal Gurung’s custom-designed tees and hoodies. Recording booths let guests perform and take home their own music on vinyl. Luxury lounges made everyone a VIP.

Besides thrilling 5,000+ Mastercard holders with musical experiences that rivaled — or surpassed — the GRAMMYS themselves, the Mastercard House became the go-to platform in New York for “starting something priceless.” Media descended on the best action of GRAMMY week as Mastercard celebrated the humble beginnings of music’s top stars while giving unprecedented levels of preferential treatment to the average fan.

The Mastercard House hosted more than 350 media members, garnering brand-heavy coverage in the The New York Times, Time Out New York, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, CBS News, AOL, Variety, Mic, InStyle, and more. Our strategic partners including Vinyl Me Please, Gibson Guitars, Pernod Ricard and Anheuser-Busch amplified the coverage.

120+ original news stories appeared throughout the week, generating 728 million media impressions. Mastercard social properties heated up with 34,500+ engagements. Our social channel influencers, including DJ Mick, Love Taza, Rachel Martino, Luanna, Tessa Barton, Nate Garner and Us the Duo, drove another 283,000 additional social engagements with15.5million gross reach.

Stars including Ellen DeGeneres tweeted her appreciation of the Mastercard House with #StartSomethingPriceless and #ThanksSponsor hashtags to her 77 million followers, while NYC influencer Luanna told her 2.1 million followers that Mastercard House was “the coolest house on the block” and honored #StartSomethingPriceless for helping “transcend all boundaries.”

Our vinyl and photograph collection sold out, resulting in hundreds of Masterpass transactions and $25,000 in proceeds donated to MusiCares, the Recording Academy charity providing a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need.