Playing for Change

About

Playing for Change is a world music collective and multimedia project founded by American engineer and producer Mark Johnson. With the goal of inspiring peace and unity through music, the project was forged in 2002 before taking taking off in 2005, when Johnson first discovered singer Roger Ridley singing "Stand By Me" on the streets of Santa Monica, California. Ripley's version of the song became Playing for Change's first viral video in its ongoing series titled Songs Around the World. The Playing for Change collective has since continued to record and film artists from around the world, many of whom would eventually form the ever-evolving Playing for Change Band.