Buying something for someone who really loves music is surprisingly difficult.
They may already have better headphones than you do. They may have a turntable they’ve spent years getting exactly right. They may own more records than they have room for, and if you buy them an album, there’s a reasonable chance they already have it.
So we didn’t go looking for things that simply look musical.
We wanted things that have some connection to the actual experience of listening — something that might become part of someone’s collection, their listening habits, or even the little rituals that grow around music over time.
Music has a funny way of becoming attached to the moments around it, too. A record, a room, a particular pair of headphones can eventually become part of a memory without us even noticing. We wrote about that connection between music, memory and the people in our lives in Why Do Certain Songs Bring Back Specific People?
These are five things we’d genuinely consider buying.
How Music Works — David Byrne
David Byrne’s How Music Works is one of those books that can make you hear familiar music a little differently.
It isn’t a conventional history of music, and it isn’t really a memoir either. Byrne moves between his own experiences as a musician and much broader questions about performance, recording, technology and the circumstances in which music is created and heard. Kirkus describes it as an exploration of music both as an art form and as a way of life, drawing on Byrne’s experiences as a performer, producer and songwriter.
What I like about it as a gift is that it doesn’t require the recipient to be a musician.
Someone who spends most of their time simply listening can get just as much out of it. In fact, that may be the more interesting way to read it. Byrne has a habit of taking something that seems obvious — a concert, a recording, a song — and making you look at the machinery around it.
Some of his ideas are more convincing than others, and the book can wander. But that’s not necessarily a weakness. It feels like someone following their curiosity rather than working through a predetermined syllabus.
For someone who has already listened to thousands of records, giving them a book that might make the next thousand sound slightly different is a pretty good gift.
Best for: someone who is curious about what happens behind the music as well as in it.
One thing to know: this isn’t a straightforward music-history book. It’s broader, more personal and considerably more digressive.
Big Fudge Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit
This is probably the least glamorous item on the list.
It’s also one of the most useful.
Anyone who owns a reasonable number of records eventually discovers that vinyl has a maintenance problem. Dust gets everywhere. Fingerprints happen. Records that looked perfectly clean under ordinary light can suddenly reveal a surprising amount of debris when you put them under a bright lamp.
The Big Fudge kit includes a velvet record brush, cleaning fluid, stylus brush and storage pouch. It has accumulated more than 25,000 customer ratings in current listings, with an average around 4.7 stars. Reviews commonly praise how easy it is to use and how well it handles ordinary dust and grime. There are occasional complaints about packaging and the cleaning fluid leaking, so it’s not quite the flawless little miracle some product descriptions make it sound like.
Still, this is exactly the kind of thing I’d rather receive from someone who knows I collect records than another piece of vaguely music-themed decoration.
There’s something satisfying about taking an old record, cleaning it properly and putting it back on the turntable. It’s a small ritual, but vinyl is full of those.
Best for: someone who owns records and actually plays them.
One thing to know: this is for everyday record care. It isn’t a substitute for a serious cleaning machine or professional restoration.
MCS Double Matted Record Album Frame
Some album covers deserve to be seen.
That sounds obvious until you look at how most of us store records. We buy them because we want to hear them, then put them vertically on a shelf where the artwork is visible only when we’re standing directly in front of the collection.
A record frame changes that.
The MCS Double Matted Record Album Frame is made to display both the album jacket and the record itself. The version we’re recommending is the 16.5-by-25-inch black frame with a white mat, and it can be hung either vertically or horizontally. It currently has a large number of positive customer reviews, although some buyers have noted that unusually wide gatefold sleeves can be a tight fit.
That’s actually useful information if you’re thinking about buying one as a gift.
Don’t assume every album will fit simply because it’s a record.
But for a standard LP, the idea is great. You can display the album you’re currently obsessed with, or finally give a favourite record a place on the wall rather than leaving it hidden among the rest.
And there’s no rule saying it has to stay there forever.
Change the record when you get tired of looking at it. Put up something new when another album takes its place.
It’s a small way of letting music become part of the room rather than keeping it entirely on the shelf.
Best for: someone with an album cover they love almost as much as the record itself.
One thing to know: check the dimensions of the particular record or gatefold before buying.
Audio-Technica AT-LP60X
The first turntable someone buys can be a slightly intimidating decision.
There are enough opinions about turntables online to make a beginner wonder whether they’ve accidentally wandered into an engineering degree.
The AT-LP60X is appealing precisely because it doesn’t require that level of commitment.
It’s fully automatic, belt-driven, plays 33⅓ and 45 RPM records and has a built-in switchable phono preamp. Current listings show thousands of customer ratings, with ease of use and its suitability for beginners among the things buyers most often praise.
That’s really where this turntable makes sense.
Someone has a pile of records. They want to start listening to them. They don’t particularly want to spend the next three months learning about cartridge alignment.
The AT-LP60X gets out of the way.
It isn’t the turntable I’d recommend to someone already deep into the hobby and looking for an upgrade. Its simplicity is also its limitation. There isn’t much here for someone who wants to spend their weekends tweaking equipment.
For a beginner, though, that may be exactly the point.
And there is something worth checking before buying one as a gift: the Amazon US model is a 120V version, so buyers outside North America should make sure they’re purchasing the appropriate regional model rather than assuming any listing will work on their local power supply.
Best for: someone who wants to start listening to vinyl without turning it into a technical project.
One thing to know: experienced vinyl enthusiasts may quickly want something more adjustable.
Rolling Stone: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
There is no such thing as the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Which is exactly why this book is fun.
The 2022 Rolling Stone: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is essentially a physical version of an argument that music fans have been having forever. It’s beautifully designed, packed with photographs and organised around Rolling Stone’s much-discussed ranking of the albums it considers the greatest. The book was published by Abrams in 2022 and runs to 256 pages.
You can open it looking for an album you love and immediately disagree with the ranking.
That’s part of the experience.
You might discover something you’ve never heard. You might wonder why an album you consider essential is nowhere near the top. You might spend twenty minutes arguing with the choices and then realise you’ve just added three records to your listening queue.
That’s probably the best use of a book like this.
It isn’t an objective musical authority, and it shouldn’t be treated as one. Lists like this are snapshots of taste, culture and the moment in which they’re made. Their value is partly in what they include and partly in what they leave out.
For a music lover, that’s not a flaw.
It’s an invitation.
Best for: someone who enjoys discovering records and has strong opinions about which ones deserve to be called classics.
One thing to know: don’t buy it expecting the definitive answer to anything. Buy it because arguing with the list is half the fun.
So, would we actually buy these?
Yes — although not for the same person.
I’d give How Music Works to someone who is endlessly curious about music and likes understanding why things sound the way they do.
The Big Fudge kit makes more sense for the person whose record collection is becoming a serious collection rather than a handful of old albums.
The MCS frame is a good choice when you know there’s one particular record they love looking at.
The AT-LP60X is the most obvious gift for someone who keeps saying they want to get into vinyl but hasn’t quite made the jump.
And the Rolling Stone book is for the person who will happily spend an evening telling you exactly why Rolling Stone got it wrong.
None of these is necessary.
That’s partly why I like them.
Music already gives us enough things we need to own. These are the things that make the experience around it a little more enjoyable.
And sometimes that’s a better gift.