Listen, we’ve all been there. I’m not judging. There are some people who are impossible to buy for, or you just get swept up with all the overwhelm of the holidays… and then suddenly it’s Christmas Eve and you’re not done your shopping. Seriously, not judging. And we’re gonna get straight to the point because you’ve only got a few hours left to lock this down. If you need last minute holiday gifts for the music fan in your life, these are some surefire options that won’t even involve you heading out to the mall.
SiriusXM Subscription
I spend a lot of time making playlists and trying to discover new music, so it feels like a luxury now to have someone else choose the music for me. And as a Canadian, I appreciate the variety of music (we don’t have all the radio station formats here so our options are limited). I live for Lithium & 90s on 9, and occasionally the Pitbull channel. ALSO THEY JUST ADDED A STATION CALLED THE EMO PROJECT. I feel like I’ve been reborn. Emo, screamo, and pop punk. It’s a DREAM.
I worked with SiriusXM earlier this year and got set up with a home subscription, and listen… it’s like the best thing that ever happened to me. If you’d like to set a friend up with their own SiriusXM subscription, you can use this link to get the first three months for $1! No car required!
Spotify Premium
I’m so spoiled by Spotify Premium at this point, I genuinely don’t know how people use it any other way. Not being able to pick exactly which songs you want to listen to on the go, or not being able to download your music to listen to offline? Uuuuuhhhh??? What benefits ARE you getting? The key is to pay for Spotify and then mooch off of someone else’s Netflix. Balance. You can check out the available plans here.
Album Preorder
See, the trick here is…. if the album doesn’t come out until weeks/months from now, you won’t need to have a present ready to go by morning. And you still get the full glory of a great gift! There’s a bunch of cool vinyl pressings up for pre-order right now (this Halsey pressing full of glitter sounds WILD, and this exclusive Tame Impala pressing is sure to sell out fast) and any of them are sure to be a hit with your collector friends.
Vinyl Subscription
Some vinyl subscription services offer a short term subscription, which works better as a gift unless you’re looking to spend until next Christmas. You could set your friend up with 1-3 months of Vinyl Moon vinyl mixtapes to help them discover some new music, or check out Flying Vinyl to get a bunch of singles from a handful of cool UK bands every month.
I haven’t had a chance to check out Stylus myself yet, but it sounds like a sick option as well. Every month they send a record, a bottle of wine, and art print, and a magazine. The records are always classics. Instead of a subscription, you could get a past month’s “experience” as a gift box!
Hopefully this has helped alleviate some of your gift-related stress. If not… congrats on not buying into capitalism. Either way, I’m wishing you a happy holiday season, a happy new year, and uhhhh… a reminder to check my new website for music updates.
