Viral 'Stand' video fuels CD success

NEW YORK — When European street performer Clarence Bekker was asked to participate in an album of mashed-up performances by anonymous musicians from around the world, he didn't think much of its prospects for success.

But Grammy-winning music producer Mark Johnson's grand vision for the global, street-level tapestry of seminal songs became clear to Bekker the first time he saw footage of "Stand by Me."

"I was blown away," said Bekker, who was born in the South American nation of Suriname, but spent much of his life in Amsterdam, and now lives in Barcelona, Spain. "From then on, I started to believe in the project totally."

His belief was vindicated: Over the past few months, more than 11 million people have watched the YouTube video of the first single, which features singers and performers from New Orleans to Africa interspersed seamlessly in one song.

And the Playing for Change CD/DVD project titled, "Songs Around the World," which debuted in April, landed among Billboard's top 10 albums in May. That put its hodgepodge of performers among top-sellers like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, even though the album was only being sold in nontraditional outlets like Starbucks, whose Hear Music label put out the record.

So far, the CD has sold about 80,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and the album has led to high-profile performances for some of its singers. Bekker will play the renowned Glastonbury Festival in Great Britain with the Playing for Change band on June 27. A documentary will air on PBS this summer and a DVD is to follow in the fall.

"People are recognizing me on the street, I'm able to go on big stages," he said. "I'm getting to a professional level."

Every artist who appears on the record has been or will be compensated, said Joel Amsterdam, a publicist for its parent label, Concord Music Group. Featured artists like Bekker also share in a royalty pool based on sales revenue.

Johnson, who won a Grammy with singer Keb' Mo', got the idea for the Playing for Change project one day when he happened upon a New York City subway performance.

"Some of the best music I ever heard in my life was on the way to the studio," he said. "It just hit me that great music is just moments in time, and they exist all over the world."