Playing For Change

IMN representation: Asia, Australia, South America, Europe

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What began as a PBS documentary with the lofty goal of fostering hope and inspiration through music has now become a worldwide phenomenon. Inspired by the passion and energy of street musician Roger Ridley’s rendition of “Stand by Me,” Grammy award winning producer Mark Johnson set out across the globe on one of the most incredible journeys in modern music: Playing For Change.

Johnson traveled the world, recording and filming street musicians of different faiths, backgrounds, and ethnicities, then blended their contributions into one unified and moving performance. Many of these artists would never actually meet, but their talents and passion were brought together in song. Johnson explains the process as “layering musicians on top of each other. They could all hear whatever had come before them, and then they could find a way to make their track something that was more of a universal song.” The final product aired as a documentary on PBS called Playing For Change: Peace Through Music and went completely viral on YouTube, with PFC’s “Stand By Me” video reaching well over 20 million views.

A collection of musicians from the documentary came together for a live performance at the 2009 SXSW festival as the Playing For Change Band. The group’s fervent delivery of blues, gospel, reggae and Afropop led to an amazing run of sold out shows, moving audiences worldwide and earning them a remarkable debut on Billboard’s Top 10 with Playing For Change – Songs Around The World. In 2010 PFC continued in their mission to inspire, connect, and bring peace through music with the release of Playing For Change Live – a special two-disc CD/DVD that documents their critically acclaimed 2009 world tour.

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REVIEWS

A fine collective of vocalists and musicians assembled by Grammy winning producer Mark Johnson to promote musical connectedness and cross-cultural understanding.
The LA Times

Street musicians as agents of change.
The Boston Globe

Filmmaker Mark Johnson had a simple idea – that the world can be connected through music.
ABC

Further proving that music is the universal language, more than 100 musicians across the planet are entwining talents to promote world peace.
USA Today