Top Gifts to Buy The Music Lover in Your Life This Holiday Season

Graphic by Monika Krueger

By Stephanie Weber

Every year, when Thanksgiving passes, the holiday season is in full swing. The temperature may be 50 degrees with no chance of snow, but it’s a delight walking down Newbury Street and stopping at each glamorous window display. Window shopping while drinking hot cocoa (or a Dunkin’ iced coffee in true Boston fashion), holding your lover’s hand and trying to spot the perfect gift is a long-time holiday tradition. Although this seems like a scene out of a Hallmark movie, it’s a struggle finding great gifts. I’ve been guilty of giving bad gifts and returning ones I receive. Especially as music lovers, there are so many gifts to choose from, but they are never in one place. Here is a definitive list of some gifts for the music lover in your life, whether it’s for the holidays, a birthday, or just because. 

Hard Media 

Some people collect beanie babies from the 90s, coins from around the world, or even nine-year old me who collected and proudly displayed my lipgloss collection. Music lovers, on the other hand, collect music of all types. CDs, vinyl, and cassette are unique in their own right, each playing music differently. Although I’m a CD person, most people I know collect vinyl, but there’s always that one person who still collects cassettes (my dad). It’s super easy to find this hard media; thrift stores and antique shops tend to have these hidden gems for a lot less than first-pressed vinyl. Hard media can also be purchased at your local record shop. Stereo Jacks, Armageddon, and Cheapo Records are some of my favorites in Boston. Newbury Comics is a staple in any Bostonian’s heart, as you can purchase both in store and online. If you’re feeling crafty, a mixtape is a really cute gift. Since 2017, I’ve been making mixtapes for my friends on CD, combining their music taste with my own additions. Hard media can be sentimental, opening the opportunity to finish someone’s artist discography or buy a limited edition collectors item.

Digital Media

Unlike hard media, digital music can be streamed at any time. For that reason, digital music is a perfect gift for a tech lover or city folk who always have their earbuds in. Of course a Spotify Premium or Apple Music gift card is perfect for any student, but a subscription to Nugs.net, a streaming archive of music and concert videos, is perfect for a live music lover. Gifting an album on Bandcamp is also a great way to provide profit directly to artists. Even gifting Youtube Premium can be appreciated. One of my favorite gifts to receive, though, is a carefully curated playlist on a digital medium. If you’re money conscious, gifting songs is a personalized and frugal way to give holiday cheer. 

Music Technology

Music can be listened to on all sorts of mediums—it could be a good old fashioned car stereo, an 80s boombox on the beach, or even my blue iPod nano from 2010. For my last birthday, I received this cassette player which was ideal instead of using my dad’s old Walkman. Additionally, Crosley is best known for their record players, but they also sell great speakers, like this one that’s totally retro. If you don’t want to wake up your suitemates, headphones are ideal for music lovers. Of course, standard ones are fine, but what’s really needed is an adaptor for other headphones, like this one from Apple. If you don’t want to use the average headphones, buy these Koss Porta headphones to fit in with every small liberal arts college student. New music technology is continuously being released, so there’s always something to buy.

Artist Merch

Maybe you own a hat from a local concert you recently attended or a simple Green Day t-shirt from Target. Either way musician merch is a staple in any music lover’s life. I love collecting t-shirts at the thrift store or a record store for an outfit that simultaneously makes me look cool and put-together. Merchbar is also a great place to look for any artist’s merchandise, older or current. They’ve got apparel items, signed merch, bags, posters, CDs and vinyl, and other collector items. Similarly, Newbury Comics has some great music pins, t-shirts, mugs, and other music memorabilia. It’s also possible to buy directly from an artist’s website (like my favorite band Sleater-Kinney’s website) or even from the music sections of Hot Topic, Target, and Amazon. I also love to support small businesses by buying fromEtsy, Depop, or Ebay. 

Books 

Although books could be considered artist merch in their own right, they deserve their own category. Whether they are new or used, books are a well-thought out gift. Some of my favorite used bookstores in the Boston area are the Harvard Bookstore and Brookline Booksmith, although I love a regular bookstore like Porter Square Books and Trident Booksellers too. It’s also cool to buy used books online from Thrift Books. From books about musicians, to sheet music, and music theory, there is so much to explore with books about music. Some books I’ve loved are Kurt Cobain’s Journals, The Riot Grrrl Collection, and the indie classic every Emerson kid is reading, Just Kids by Patti Smith. Books are a great way to say something personal but equally intelligent. 

Music Displays 

After a music lover has collected all their hard media, they need some place to display it. Some people love displaying their vinyls above their record player, while some put all their music in milk crates. Either way, it’s important to stay organized and display music in aesthetic ways. Clear wall hangings are ideal for that simplistic and minimalistic look. Stackable displays that look straight out of the ‘90s are also a great option. These shelves and clear record stands are also an option for vinyl collectors. Years ago, I bought a table like this one that was the ideal size, shape, and color for my wood grain record player. 

When gifts don’t work out, we like to say something like “it’s the message that counts” covering up the fact we re-gifted something or knowingly gave a horrible gift. This can be avoided if we ask the people closest in our lives what they desire. Music lovers will love anything on this list and more. Gift tip for music lovers: stalk their Spotify or Apple Music for their most streamed artists in order to personalize gifts even more! Above all, if you’re unsure of what to get someone, a gift card or shopping trip to their favorite store can be an enjoyable experience. There are so many great options to choose from.