Research

Academic theory and nostalgia studies

These sources help define nostalgia properly and give your FMP a stronger academic base. They are especially useful for the rationale, contextual review and written analysis sections.

Core theory: nostalgia and memory

Source	Why it helps	Link
Newman, D.B., Sachs, M.E., Stone, A.A. and Schwarz, N. (2020) Nostalgia and Well-Being in Daily Life: An Ecological Validity Perspective	Useful for explaining how nostalgia can support social connectedness, self-continuity and well-being.	Open source
FioRito, T.A. and Routledge, C. (2020) Is Nostalgia a Past or Future-Oriented Experience? Affective, Behavioral, Social Cognitive, and Neuroscientific Evidence	Strong source for the argument that nostalgia is not only reflective but also motivational and future-facing.	Open source
Hagedoorn, B. (ed.) (2018) The Past in Visual Culture: Essays on Memory, Nostalgia and the Media	Useful for placing your project within wider debates about memory, archives and media forms.	Open source

Digital memory and online culture

Source	Why it helps	Link
Hutmacher, F. et al. (2024) Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age	Directly relevant to how digital platforms shape remembrance, self-documentation and recall.	Open source
Wang, Q. (2022) Memory online: introduction to the special issue	A concise entry point into how the internet and social media influence remembering.	Open source
Hou, Y. et al. (2022) Remembering online and offline: the effects of retrieval context on autobiographical memory	Useful if you want to compare remembering in conversation versus remembering through digital traces.	Open source

British screen culture and nostalgia

Source	Why it helps	Link
Sobande, F. (2024) Black media nostalgia in Britain	Useful for broadening the project beyond generic nostalgia into identity, race and lived cultural memory.	Open source
BFI (2016/2017) Cinephilia down the ages: a Museum of the Everyday	Supports discussion of fan memory, cinema-going habits and everyday media remembrance.	Open source
BFI (2022) The pattern under the plough: the old, weird Britain on film	Useful for linking nostalgia to British film history, place, ritual and national identity.	Open source

Case study: Back in the Dayz podcast

Source	Why it helps	Link
Spotify (2025-2026) Back In The Dayz with Stevo the Madman	Primary platform source for your case study podcast.	Open source
YouTube / STMM Network (2025-2026) BACK IN THE DAYZ PODCAST playlist	Useful as evidence of the show’s episode range, visual branding and guest-led nostalgia format.	Open source
Acast (2025-2026) Back In The Dayz with Stevo the Madman feed	Good platform evidence for episode summaries, distribution details and branding.	Open source
Instagram (2026) @backinthedayzpod	Useful for marketing, branding, audience engagement and transmedia extension.	Open source

Target Audience

Audience Profile

Core Target Audience

The primary target audience will consist of young people aged between 16 and 25 years, with the secondary audience being people aged 26-35 years. The audience members should have a strong interest in media, nostalgia, music, and podcast culture. This group will also be digitally active and culturally aware. They must enjoy discussing how past experiences, trends, and memories influence the present-day culture.

Demographic Profile

Age: 16–25, with a secondary audience aged 26–35

Gender: Will have a male skew towards it however not majorly

Location: Mainly based in the United Kingdom, with a strong urban presence

Education / Lifestyle: Youngsters, creative individuals, podcast listeners, media lovers, and culture aficionados.

Psychographic Profile

They enjoy hearing nostalgic content.

They have a liking towards podcasts, documentaries, and other media discussions.

They enjoy listening to media that feels authentic and culturally relevant.

They are keen to learn how past influences the present day’s trends and activities.

They appreciate hearing true stories as opposed to fabricated ones.

Audience Interests

Podcasts such as Back in the Dayz
Nostalgia-related social media content
Discussions relating to old music, television, games, fashions and past lifestyles.
Documentaries that delve into societal, media, and cultural themes.

Media Habits

Podcasts, videos, documentaries on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, TikTok, and Instagram.
Viewing short clips before moving on to complete podcast or documentary episodes.
Listening while commuting, travelling, and taking a rest.
They favour media that is engaging, accessible, personality-driven, and entertaining.

Why this audience fits the project

These are the perfect audience members for this project because it covers all of the interests noted above. At the same time, the involvement of the Back in the Dayz podcast makes it even more realistic, providing the opportunity for audience members to hear reflections of those connected with the subject matter in question.

Release Strategy

Research suggests that 30% of the UK population, who listen to podcasts, tune in between 3pm and 7pm, so this is rush hour time coming home and to work.

Most listening also occurs during weekday commutes to and from work.

Below is a slideshow detailing the release strategy in full detail:

Story Research

Case Study: Back in the Dayz

The Back in the Dayz podcast hosted by Stevo the Madman is an important case study for this project, considering the podcast relies entirely on the concept of memory, nostalgia, and reflections of collective culture.

In the podcast description, it describes the episode as “a trip down memory lane”. Some annotated screenshots are provided below to give a better understanding of the literal form of the podcast.

This makes this podcast very relatable to the proposed target audience, as the podcast allows members to relive music, entertainment, and past experiences in a relatable manner. By basing my case study on Back in the Dayz, I am able to understand how the podcast attracted daily listeners who already enjoy podcasts.

By using Back in the Dayz as a case study, I can research how nostalgia-led conversations can attract daily active listeners who already consume podcasts.

This helps me shape Echoes of Then in a way that suits my intended audience, who are more likely to respond to authentic voices, familiar references and personality-led discussions rather than formal academic delivery.

Music History

The guardians history of UK Garage traces the genres origins to radio stations in East London in the early 1990s naming, Craig David and So Solid Crew, as break thrugh atrists. I will use this origin story for the foundations of my first episode to explain the feelings of nostalgia.

Along side there some more research within the music culture, and all about looking back is a recent sit down with British Rap producer mainly for JHus being, JAE5, recently releasing his breakdown on an iconic rap song for JHUS being, Did you see,

Offical Charts Data

The official charts reported a Daniel Bengfield song number one on the top 100 in January of 2002, 2002 is the range of my primairy audience. This is shown, here

RAJAR Podcast Listening Data

Rajar reports that 31% of 25-34 year olds listen to podcasts per week and 24% of 15-24 year olds listen to podcasts weekly in the uk. This relates to me as I will be using this data to target my specifc audiences which are between those age ranges within my documentary series.

Form and Style (Stylistic Research)

What makes a good audio documentary?

A good audio documentary is made by making sure to keep the listener engaged at all times. This is done by making sure to start the first 30 seconds with an exciting moment, a moment that is retained in memory, and then after that, every 5-10 minutes, have something that keeps the audience engaged, like a funny comment. The goal is to keep the audience engaged at all times with the conversation still flowing.

This is important as my target audience consumes a high amount of streamed audio, podcasts and digital media. This means that the style of my project should feel modern and personality-led while being structured like a documentary. I want the documentaries to combine narration, interview material and reflection in a way that matches the listening habits of this audience.

BBC Academy and Transom have been very useful, as they give guidance on how stories are told using sound, structure and storytelling to hold attention.

It will be good as well to base my style around the Back in the Dayz podcast, such as the tape recorder at the beginning of each episode, followed by a funny moment from the episode; it will be good to maintain engagement, and the old tape recorder sound effect and the Street Fighter “3…2…1 fight” as well will have a link back to nostalgia as well.

An MP3 attachment is listed below for reference.

This is also coupled with previous audio documentaries that I have completed as well, using that level of sound design. Especially with the intro too. All sound FX from those productions were collected from Epidemic Sound.

I will also be trying to emulate the same story structure as the podcast link below, the story of nike in football, which does bring out a nostalgic energy with it. As it is talking about the past enviorment

Technical (Hardware/Software) Research

As part of my research it is better to consider the hardware and the software that will be available to me to make sure I have the correct equipment for the task at hand.

The hardware available to me is the recording booth fitted with soundproofing and an Audio-Technica microphone, which is excellent for recording, and it will be recorded on Adobe Audition, which is crowned for its simplicity yet how much functionality it has.

I will also be using my MacBook Pro M2 to edit the audio and add all of my sound design features.

Different Microphone options

Microphone	Why its good	Link
Rode Pod Mic	The rode pod mic is good as it is good as a budget option, compact in size and records within a tight frequency range which makes it good in untreated enviorments.	Open source
Audio-Technica AT2040	The AT2040 has different features that minimize background noise as much as possible. It is very beginner friendly	Open source
Shure MV7	This mic is great as you can record low res and high res audio at the same time, The application on your mobile device makes it great for on the go recording too. However it is not that budget friendly	Open source
Shure SM7B	The SM7B is more of the well known micorphones, it records at a wide frequency range so it makes it great for recording in a treated enviorment, however it is not that budget friendly like the one before it which is a let down.	Open source

The specific microphone I have at my disposal is the Audio Technica AT2020; which has a wide frequency range which will give a more detailed sound within a sound-treated environment. I will use the AT2020, as it is the budget-friendly option, and it will still perform well in a sound-treated environment.

Different Audio Editing Software Options

Software	Why its good	Link
Adobe Auditon	Industry Standard for podcasting and spoken word wditing, very strong at multitrack editing. Very clean workflow.	Open source
Audiacity	Audacity is free and easy to access, it is also VERY beginner friendly. It has a simple interface for recording and editing	Open source
Logic Pro	Logic has very good sound quality, it is very music focused, however its high one time payment does not make it appealing to me. But is is fully optimised for Mac systems	Open source
Pro Tools	Professional industry standard software, is quite music focused however vocal editing is also very good. It is extremly powerful in its editing capabilities.	Open source

I have chosen to use Adobe auditon for its strong multitrack option further more also the ability to edit single waveforms as well. Its a proffessional standard tool as well.

Different Mixing Desk Options

Mixing Desk	Why its good	Link
Studer	Syuder is industry standard used in professional radio enviroments with clean preamps, mainly designed for live radio workflows.	Open source
Yamaha	Yamaha is very reliable and has strong audio quality and versitale functionality for live sound.	Open source
Allen & Heath	Strong EQ sections and professional build qualit. Very popular in live sound and radio production	Open source
Solid State Logic	Legacy studio console. Also has extremly high end audio qualiry and professional routing. Used in music, film and different industries.	Open source

For the mixing desk I have chosen to use the one in the image below, Sonifex S2, as its very simple to use and I can still edit and alter my vocals live while recording if needed.