Music Gift Ideas for the Music Fan Who Already Owns Everything

Gifts for people who play

If they play an instrument, the safest gifts are the things they use up or lose. Strings wear out, picks vanish, tuners get borrowed and never come back. None of these feel exciting to buy for yourself, which is exactly why they are welcome as presents.

The one rule is to get the specifics right. Guitarists care about string gauge and brand, so check the packet on their last set or ask a bandmate. A good clip on tuner, a decent capo or a tin of quality picks are hard to get wrong.

Upgrades for people who listen

For someone who mostly listens, the best present is often a better way to hear what they already love. Good over ear headphones for the commute, a portable speaker for the kitchen or a proper turntable for the record collection they have been building on a cheap player.

This is where a big gift makes sense, and where a group of you can put in together rather than buying five small things that miss.

For the gig lover

Some music fans would rather be in a room with a band than anywhere else. Tickets are the obvious present, but the small things that make a gig better are easy wins: proper earplugs that keep the sound clear, a small bag that is fine in a crowd, a power bank so the phone survives the encore.

Keepsakes work too. A frame for ticket stubs or a book to keep them in turns years of nights out into something on the wall.

For the vinyl collector

Record collectors already know what they want to buy next, so the gift is everything around the records: a cleaning kit, a crate or shelf that shows off the sleeves, fresh inner sleeves to protect the good ones. If you want to buy a record itself, ask for the exact pressing, because colour and edition really matter to them.

Books and things to read

Music biographies, big photo books and histories of a band or a scene are the kind of present music fans actually read. Pick an artist they love, or a book about the era they never stop talking about.

For music loving dads and mums

Plenty of parents have a soundtrack to their life that never made it past the radio. The gift is often a way to finally hear it properly: a good pair of headphones for the garden or the commute, a compact turntable for the records still in the loft, or a speaker for the kitchen where the music actually gets played.

If they once played, or always wanted to, a beginner friendly extra goes down well: a ukulele, a set of lessons, a book on the band they saw live in 1983. Pick the era they bring up at every family dinner and you will not go far wrong.

Small stocking fillers for any music fan

Not every music present needs a big budget. A tin of picks, a pair of reusable earplugs, a record cleaning brush, a set of band pin badges or a spare cable all fit in a stocking and all get used. They are also easy to add to a group gift, so the main present feels bigger without anyone overspending.

The trick is to keep them specific. A generic music themed mug is forgettable, while the exact capo, plectrum gauge or sleeve size is the sort of thing a music fan notices and appreciates.

Ask before you assume

Music people have real opinions about the details most of us would never think to ask about. A quick question about what they would actually want beats a confident guess almost every time, and if you are really stuck, a voucher for a music shop they love lets them choose the exact thing.

Easier still, ask them to make a list. On HintDrop they can save the exact strings, the right pressing or the headphones they have been eyeing from any shop into one link, and family can tap Dibs so nobody doubles up.