Juan Carlos Méndez Álvarez is a second-year student at the Research Master’s in Musicology at Utrecht University. He received his Bachelor’s in Classical Guitar Performance from Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica, and his Master’s in Electric Guitar Performance from McNally Smith College of Music in Minnesota, United States. His research interests include film music, music materiality, internet-mediated music, nostalgia, retrofuturism and hauntology. As a guest researcher, he has been part of the ESNS/University of Groningen research project on diversity in the music industry since September 2022.