The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience

What The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience does

The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience (LMHE) is a private nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by social entrepreneur Chris Beary to build a 120,000-square-foot music museum in New Orleans' River District, with a target opening of 2029. The museum will house approximately 40,000 square feet of exhibit space alongside live music venues, a music-themed restaurant and club, event rental spaces, a museum store, and educational facilities, positioning it as a year-round cultural anchor for Louisiana's music heritage spanning jazz, blues, funk, R&B, rock and roll, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, and hip-hop. The organization currently operates with 1-10 employees and is led by CEO Terry Stewart (former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame CEO for 14 years and former Marvel Entertainment President/COO) with curator Bob Santelli (original Rock Hall curator and founder of Grammy Museums in LA, Mississippi, and New Jersey) leading content.

LMHE's business model is multi-revenue-stream and asset-heavy: projected $45 million in annual sales at full operational capacity (per ConsultEcon feasibility study) is expected to be generated from museum admissions, food and beverage services (operated under a Sodexo LIVE! contract projected to deliver nearly half of facility revenues), event and venue rentals, merchandise, and education programs. A ConsultEcon feasibility study projects 712,000 annual visitors, 234 full-time equivalent positions, and $150 million in annual economic impact for Louisiana. The total development cost is $171.5 million (revised from earlier $165 million), funded through a combination of $28.5 million in Louisiana Priority 5 state funding, $1 million from the City of New Orleans, $80 million in planned bond financing, and a $56.5 million private capital target. Current operations are limited to the annual NOLA Funk Fest preview event (now in its third year), the traveling 'I Found My Thrill' Fats Domino exhibit, a virtual museum, a digital archive, and educational programming partnerships.

Name

The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience

Legal name

Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience

Website

https://lmhe.live

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience (LMHE) is a nonprofit developing a 120,000-square-foot music museum in New Orleans' River District, targeting a 2029 opening to preserve and celebrate Louisiana's role as the genesis of American music for tourists, students, and the music industry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural heritage museum

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Event Operations & Venue Services (Box Office, FOH/BOH, Concessions) (MPAIAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Concert Halls & Music Venue Operations (Symphony Halls, Recital Venues) (MPAGALAC), Live Music Venues & Concert Bars (THAFAEAD)

Keywords

• Music museum exhibits
• Cultural heritage education
• Live music programming
• Music festival events
• Music archival collections

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admissions: Ticket sales from visitors to the 120,000 square foot museum featuring interactive exhibits, live music venues, and educational spaces.
2. Food and Beverage Services: Sodexo LIVE! contracted to provide food and beverage services including catering for banquets, parties, and private events expected to generate nearly half the facility's revenues.
3. Music Club and Restaurant: Adjacent music club and music-themed restaurant providing local musicians regular residencies and tourists authentic New Orleans/Louisiana music experiences with local food.
4. Museum Store and Sales Space: Facility sales space and museum store selling merchandise, recordings, and music-related products.
5. Education Programs and Training: Training programs for musicians, stage managers, sound and light technicians, and asynchronous learning programs for schools.
6. Event Venue Rental: Rental of performance spaces and venues for private events, concerts, and cultural programming.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LMHE is a forthcoming 120,000 square foot physical museum in the New Orleans River District dedicated to preserving Louisiana's role as the genesis of American music, featuring 40,000 sq ft of immersive exhibits, live music venues, and educational spaces. The current operating portfolio includes the annual NOLA Funk Fest festival, traveling museum exhibits, a virtual museum and digital archive, and education programs for schools and musicians. Food and beverage services are operated by Sodexo LIVE! for events and venue guests.

Product overview

The Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience (LMHE) is a forthcoming museum of grand scale dedicated to preserving the state's rich musical history. The core offering is the physical 120,000 square foot museum featuring immersive exhibits, live music venues, educational programs, and storytelling. Supporting the museum are the annual NOLA Funk Fest festival (a public-facing preview of the museum), traveling exhibits like 'I Found My Thrill' celebrating Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, a virtual museum experience, a digital music archive, and educational programming. Food and beverage services will be provided through a Sodexo LIVE! partnership. The museum is being developed in New Orleans' River District with a projected 2029 opening.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NOLA Funk Fest: Annual music festival serving as a public-facing preview of The Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience, featuring Louisiana musicians and cultural programming including symposia and exhibits.

Products and services

• Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience Museum Forthcoming 120,000 square foot world-class museum dedicated to preserving, educating, and inspiring Louisiana's music legacy as the genesis of American music, featuring immersive exhibits, live music venues, education programs, and storytelling from Congo Square to present day. Intended for tourists, music fans, schools, and Louisiana residents.
• NOLA Funk Fest Annual music festival presented by LMHE that serves as a public-facing preview of the future museum, featuring live performances by Louisiana musicians, symposia, exhibitions, and cultural experiences celebrating New Orleans funk and broader Louisiana music traditions. Targeted at music fans, tourists, and the local New Orleans community.
• 'I Found My Thrill' Traveling Exhibit Traveling museum exhibit celebrating the music and artistry of Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, curated by Bob Santelli and David Kunian, with documentary filmmakers Cilista Eberle and Michael Murphy. The exhibit ran at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and then traveled to other Louisiana institutions. Intended for museum visitors, music fans, and cultural tourists.
• Virtual Museum Online virtual museum experience that allows visitors worldwide to explore Louisiana music heritage digitally, available at lmhe.iconicworlds.io. Intended for global music fans, students, and researchers who cannot visit the physical museum.
• Music Archive Digital archive platform for preserving and accessing Louisiana music history, artifacts, and documentation, available at lmhearchive.base44.app. Intended for researchers, students, musicians, and music historians.
• Education Programs Asynchronous learning programs with lesson plans for teachers, available for all ages from elementary school to adults, covering Louisiana and American history through music. Includes training programs for musicians, stage managers, and light and sound managers. Intended for K-12 schools, universities, and music-industry trainees.
• Sodexo LIVE! Food & Beverage Services Food and beverage catering services provided by Sodexo LIVE! for museum banquets, parties, and private events, expected to generate nearly half of the facility's revenues. Intended for museum visitors and private event clients.
• Event Venue Rental Rental of museum performance spaces and venues for private events, concerts, and cultural programming. Intended for corporate clients, event organizers, and private hosts.

Quantifiable outcome

• $150 million annual economic impact to Louisiana per ConsultEcon study
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ernest N. Morial Convention CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026Signed official letter of intent and lease agreement with the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to build and operate the museum facility in the River District. The museum is positioned as a cultural anchor for the district near the convention center.
• Sodexo LIVE!coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 16 February 2026Sodexo LIVE! has been awarded a contract to provide food and beverage services at the museum, including catering for banquets, parties, and private events that are expected to generate nearly half the facility's revenues. This is a major operational partnership for the venue.
• ConsultEcon, Inc.coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 17 July 2025Prepared comprehensive market and economic feasibility evaluation of LMHE including attendance projections, revenue generation analysis, operating cost estimates, pre-opening planning, and economic/fiscal impact analysis for Orleans Parish and State of Louisiana.
• Rock & Roll Hall of FameminorOthersLMHE draws inspiration and leadership from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame model. CEO Terry Stewart was Rock Hall CEO for 15 years and curator Bob Santelli was one of its original curators. LMHE is positioned as 'New Orleans' answer to Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.'

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Musical Instrument Museum: Phoenix's Musical Instrument Museum is a comparable large-scale music heritage museum (200,000+ sq ft) that complements LMHE's planned 120,000 sq ft format. MIM's global instrument collections and immersive galleries showcase the type of scale, visitation (~400K+ annually), and educational depth LMHE aspires to in a single-genre vertical.
• GRAMMY Museum: The GRAMMY Museum (LA Live and affiliates), founded by Bob Santelli, is a directly comparable peer institution in music education, exhibit programming, and live programming. Curatorial overlap is direct, and the GRAMMY Museum's education platform (developed by LMHE Project Manager Jan Jorgensen) informs LMHE's planned asynchronous programs.
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame is a directly comparable genre-anchored music museum that draws several hundred thousand visitors per year. It demonstrates the demand profile for state-of-the-world music heritage museums and the type of revenue model LMHE targets through ticketing, retail, education, and event rentals.
• Motown Museum: Detroit's Motown Museum is a comparable genre-anchored music heritage museum that began in a single house and expanded to a major facility. Its trajectory from small historical site to multi-million-visitor attraction is a relevant analog for LMHE's scaling ambition around Fats Domino and other foundational Louisiana R&B artists.
• Stax Museum of American Soul Music: Memphis's Stax Museum is a directly comparable peer: a facility of similar scale dedicated to American music heritage tied to the Mississippi River cultural corridor. Comparable visitor scale and operating challenges (rural/regional tourism, immersive exhibit programming) make it a relevant operational reference for LMHE.
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum: The Cleveland-based Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the closest direct peer: a world-class music museum celebrating the genesis of an American genre, and the operational benchmark LMHE explicitly models itself after. LMHE's CEO Terry Stewart and Curator Bob Santelli both led Rock Hall, directly transferring its operating playbook to LMHE.
• National Blues Museum: St. Louis's National Blues Museum is a directly comparable peer as a city-based genre museum (blues being one of the foundation genres LMHE also covers). It demonstrates a comparable revenue mix of admissions, education programming, and event rentals, with overlapping curatorial challenges around immersive exhibit design.
• American Jazz Museum: Kansas City's American Jazz Museum is a directly comparable genre-anchored music heritage museum. Smaller in scale, it provides a relevant precedent for fundraising models, education programs, and visitor engagement for a single-genre-focused music museum in a mid-sized tourism market.
• Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP): Seattle's MoPOP (formerly Experience Music Project) is a directly comparable music-and-pop-culture museum. Its leadership lineage through Bob Santelli and Terry Stewart connects directly to LMHE, making it a peer on operating model, exhibit philosophy, and live music programming.

Broad incumbents

• The National WWII Museum: While not a music institution, the National WWII Museum is the dominant tourism anchor in New Orleans and sits within LMHE's planned River District corridor. It is a broad incumbent comparable for visitor-volume economics, museum operations, education programming, and event rentals in the same destination city.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LMHENOLA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lmhenola

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience