BMI Songwriters Bring Their Music to Southwest Florida to Help Communities Heal After Irma

The 4th annual Island Hopper Songwriters Fest presented by BMI, the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, and iHeart Media’s Cat Country 107.1 wrapped up recently (9/22-10/1) with festival organizers reporting record crowds. The 10-day festival featured 85 BMI songwriters who performed in more than 20 venues on Captiva Island, Fort Myers Beach and in Downtown Fort Myers and provided an opportunity for those communities to heal after Hurricane Irma devastated many areas of Southwest Florida. In addition, it gave BMI songwriters the opportunity to help many businesses that support them throughout the year through their licensing fees by bringing their stories and songs to the venues, and in turn helping to boost food and beverage revenue for dozens of bars and restaurants that had to close for more than two weeks because of the effects of Irma. Several establishments commented that the songwriter shows helped them achieve record revenue in some cases, providing some relief to a few of the many communities that sustained significant damage from the hurricane.