PLAYING FOR CHANGE is a multimedia musical project that features musicians from all over the world to spread a message of peace. Playing For Change is more than just music. We're a movement that believes in the power of music to break down barriers, connect people, and create positive change.

In March 2005, Mark Johnson, sound engineer and director, filmed guitarist and singer Roger Ridley in the streets of Los Angeles, performing Stand by me. He then decided to add other musicians to this same song, superimposing their interpretation on that of Roger Ridley. He then left with his team for Barcelona, where he notably recorded Clarence Bekker on Stand by me before leaving for South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East in order to enrich Stand by me and other songs created on this same concept.

More than 150, mostly street, musicians from 25 countries have combined their talents to create a global phenomenon with millions of followers across the world.[8] Artists participating or openly involved in the project are Mermans Mosengo, Marcus King, Lukas Nelson, Char, Orbe Ortiz, Paulo Heman, Peter Bunetta, Roberto Luti, Titi Tsira, Jason Tamba, Keiko Komaki, Vusi Mahlasela, Louis Mhlanga, Clarence Bekker, David Guido Pietroni, Tal Ben Ari (Tula), Bono, Keb' Mo', David Broza, Manu Chao, Grandpa Elliott, Keith Richards, The Pocket Queen, Toots Hibbert from Toots & the Maytals, Taj Mahal and Stephen Marley. This resulted in the documentary A Cinematic Discovery of Street Musicians that won the Audience Award at the Woodstock Film Festival in September 2008.

In April 2009, the first album was released with ”Songs Around the World” a collection of the first years of the multimedia project, debuted at number 10 on Billboard's Pop Chart. The band's version of the Ben E. King classic, which interwove the performances of 18 street musicians, including a South African choir. The Playing for Change Band, an international touring band that brings artists of all backgrounds together, raising money and awareness for the foundation, features individual musicians from across the globe that the multimedia project has met through the years of travelling, recording and filming, and is regularly touring the world to spread the word of the basis of the Playing For Change foundation.