It’s that time of the year once again, when we start reckoning with what everyone on our gift list will be getting for the holidaze.
Of course, the music lovers in your life should be the easiest to get for, or so you might think.
Sure, it’s easy to just give someone an Amazon gift card or a certificate to their favorite record shop — a quick, painless gesture that does show you are, in fact, cognizant of their interests and saves them a trip to the return desk at the local department store.
However, what is the fun in that?
Especially when there’s such a vast array of choices available this holiday season, including gadgets, gear, guitars and a gigaton of box sets by some of the biggest names in music, from The Beatles to Motley Crue to Bob Dylan to Pink Floyd and then some.
In fact, with all of the possibilities we have in store for this year’s SPIN Holiday Gift Guide, it looks like Santa is going to have to add some reinforced mesh to his sack this season. Dig the possibilities below.
Lutefish
Price: $399 Retail, $249 Limited Time Offer
As anyone who’s tried jamming remotely through Zoom or Teams or whatnot can likely tell you, it’s not an ideal situation. That’s exactly what makes Lutefish a miracle for modern band practice. The easy-to-use hardware is super low latency, meaning lightning fast audio transmission by plugging directly into your router. Then patch your instrument or microphone into one of the audio jacks, use the browser app to invite your collaborators, and it’s like you’re all in the same room together. As one user enthused, “This has been the ONLY way I’ve been able to practice remote with my band. I can finally practice from the comfort and convenience of my own home!!”
Meters OV-1-B-Connect
Price: $249.99
Nothing symbolizes loudness quite like the sight of a VU meter going into the red. And though we don’t recommend listening to music at top volume, it’s pretty cool to have a functional meter (with adjustable LED colors!) on a pair of headphones to show the world your love of music in decibels. With the Meters OV-1-B-Connect, you can adjust the sound in your ears with a 5-band EQ, with active noise canceling (powered by a Qualcomm aptXTM HD audio chip) further enhancing your listening experience. From the side of your phones, you can connect calls, adjust your volume and even change tracks when synched up to your Bluetooth. Unless you prefer to go wired, as Meters has you covered with a cable for the discerning audiophile with the ultimate hi-fi stereo. And with a 16+ hour battery life, you don’t ever have to worry about running out of energy while you’re on the go. Meters OV-1-B-Connect comes in a multitude of colors as well.
Buy the Meters OV-1-B-Connect here.
Realize Music: Sing
Price: $9.99/month
From the Meta universe comes a new immersive VR game that will let your imagination and talent run wild. Realize Music: Sing is unlike any other karaoke experience out there. Just simply grab your headset, pick a song from the largest music catalog ever offered in a video game, and the stage is set for your talents to shine. Lyrics float clearly in front of you in one of a dozen immersive worlds, as the world bends and shifts with your voice. By using your controllers, you can pound on virtual drums in rhythm, paint streaks of 3D light through the air, search the massive catalog with your voice, or even play fully reclined. However you use it, Sing turns your voice and popular music into play. Try for free, subscribe to access over a million songs, or purchase just your favorite songs.
PRS S2 Mira 594
Price: $1899
Mahogany has always been one of the key components of a quality guitar. And the PRS S2 Mira 594 is “an all-mahogany workhorse,” according to the company, whose sound and playability covers a wide swath of styles with ease, from hard rock to heavy blues to vicious punk and then some. What’s more is that the pairing of the Mira’s all-mahogany body with PRS 58/15 LT pickups means you are getting a warmer, more focused midrange. Meanwhile, the humbuckers are paired with two mini-toggle switches to allow you to individually tap the pickups, which present a sweet, chime-like single-coil sound as well as authentic humbucking. The Mira 594 also features a bound 22-fret “Pattern Thin” neck with a 24.594-inch length. The signature PRS stoptail bridge with brass inserts, coupled with the PRS Phase III tuners and brass shafts, anchor the guitar, and promote an open tone and ensure tuning stability. The PRS S2 Mira 594 could very well be the most rock ‘n’ roll guitar in the Paul Reed Smith arsenal!
Qobuz
Price: Subscription plans starting at $10.83/month
Independently owned and known for the high quality of their output, Qobuz has been a destination for streaming music since 2007. What’s more is that the app is specifically designed for informed fans, offering a well-curated editorial platform featuring exclusive artist interviews, playlists from actual human beings, album reviews and much more guiding you through the massive Qobuz catalog. And as a member of Qobuz Club, those who subscribe can connect to a vast community of listeners for further discovery. Choose from a range of subscription options — from monthly and annual plans — to the Sublime offer, which includes discounts in the Qobuz Download Store.
Meters Linx
Price: $299.99
Created in the UK, the Meters Linx is a wholly unique listening experience in that it’s a one-of-a-kind system that brings together high-end wireless earbuds and desktop speakers into one singular package. So if you need tunes for a quick jog around the block or taking the dog out for a walk, the high-end earbuds are perfect for the job. But once you put them back in Meters’ patented VU meter charging case, you can seamlessly switch to desktop mode via 2.5 inch full range speakers for listening to music around the house, even while it’s charging. Durable and designed for both home or outdoor use with Bluetooth 5.0 for stable connecting, the Meters Linx is like having a full-blown hi-fi stereo system that fits in the palm of your hand.
PRS SE Silver Sky
Price: $679
If you thought John Mayer’s signature Silver Sky was a choice addition to the Paul Reed Smith guitar collection, the SE Silver Sky streamlines its excellence in a more affordable model. The SE is in many ways similar to the original, which was introduced in partnership with Mayer in 2018. Its got a poplar body and a rosewood fretboard adorned with the signature PRS bird inlays, measuring 22 frets on a 25.5” bolt-on maple neck for maximum comfort. When plugged in, you can hear the electric beauty of its trio of single-coil 635JM “S” pickups singing through your amp. Additional features include a two-point steel tremolo, synthetic bone nut, vintage-style tuners and the PRS double-acting truss rod that’s accessible from the front of the headstock. The SE Silver Sky comes with its own gig bag and a pack of PRS Classic 10-46 strings.
Buy the PRS SE Silver Sky here.
Ernie Ball John Mayer Earthwood Bell Bronze Strings
Price: $12.99 a pack
Following up on the success of last year’s collaboration on the Silver Slinky Strings, John Mayer and Ernie Ball team up again to bring you the Earthwood Bell Bronze Strings, which the guitar legend himself calls a “giant leap forward in tone, playability and durability.” These special acoustic strings were crafted from a patent-pending alloy that was inspired by the metals traditionally utilized in such percussive instruments as bells and cymbals. This distinctive blend creates a richer, fuller sound that modifies the guitar’s natural sustain and resonance, creating an incredibly balanced tone. For Mayer, these strings produce an orchestral quality, which makes them perfect for solo performances and dynamic environments. Plus, like all Ernie Ball strings, the Earthwood Bell Bronze strings are created in the United States at the company’s facility in Coachella, California.
Buy the Ernie Ball John Mayer Earthwood Bell Bronze Strings here.
Kaleidescape
Price: $2995.00
Kaleidescape’s new standalone player, the Strato E, is the quintessential gift idea for both music heads and movie buffs. Boasting a high-bitrate 4K video quality and lossless audio fidelity that includes both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, this machine has the capability to store around six high-bitrate films on an internal solid state drive. And what’s even better is your ability to download from a vast catalog of motion pictures, documentaries and concerts in minutes via gigabit Ethernet. Kaleidescape even allows you to redownload any movie you purchase for free, giving you essentially the potential to build your dream library in a cloud. This is the ultimate experience in media consumption.
Buy the Kaleidescape Strato E here.
KEF Coda W Speakers
$999.99/ pair
Get the look, sound and feel of a primo pair of old school tower speakers at a fraction of the size with KEF’s Coda W. Powered by nearly 65 years of sound innovation, these wireless, hi-fidelity speakers make gourmet listening more accessible than ever before. And with such sonic superiority, these Coda W speakers will allow you to hear every detail with unparalleled clarity that practically brings you inside the album, movie or video game you are experiencing while using them.
Inspired by heritage, modernised for today — Coda W blends timeless design with cutting-edge acoustic technology.
Buy the KEF Coda W Speakers here.
Third Eye Blind Special Edition KiTalbum
Price: $24.99
No doubt one of the biggest rock albums of the late 90s was the eponymous debut from San Francisco’s Third Eye Blind, which hit big at a time when hip-hop and R&B were king. Now this classic album looks to break ground in nearly 30 years later as a special edition KiTalbum, which combines the collectability of a physical release with the lossless listening of the digital experience. By clicking the special KiT device near your smart device, you can unlock a digital album experience unlike any other out there. So in addition to the album’s original 14 tracks in high-fidelity audio, you also get the official music videos for the band’s trio of smash hits in “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How’s It Going to Be,” plus an exclusive behind-the-scenes walking tour of San Francisco with Stephan Jenkins, recorded in 2025. Check out kitbetter.com for more titles in this innovative new collection.
Buy the Third Eye Blind Special Edition KiTalbum here.
SPIN x Aviator Nation Dreamland Gear
Price: $120 (hoodie), $48 (trucker hat)
For 40 years, SPIN Magazine has been at the vanguard of music journalism, offering revealing interviews, in-depth features and an unparalleled review section. Working in conjunction with Aviator Nation and the iconic Malibu, California music venue Dreamland, SPIN is celebrating its anniversary in fine fashion, literally. With the publication’s iconic logo on the chest and back, and “40 years spinning” written on the sleeve, the relaxed pullover hoodie has a broken-in feel that will immediately make this your new favorite sweatshirt. Also available is a beautiful gray trucker hat with a colorful SPIN patch affixed to the front that’s stylish enough to go with any outfit in your wardrobe.
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here: 50th Anniversary Edition
Price: $249.98 (Box Set), $69.98 (3LP), $26.98 (Blu-ray Audio), $19.98 (2CD)
The mysterious departure of Syd Barrett from the ranks of Pink Floyd took an emotional toll on the other members of the group. But they turned their sorrow and confusion into one of their finest studio accomplishments with 1975’s Wish You Were Here, paying homage to their friend through epic songs like “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and the heartfelt title track. In honor of its 50th anniversary, Legacy Recordings has put together its second immersive box set dedicated to this ninth Floyd LP, their first for Columbia Records. The centerpiece of this collection are six previously unreleased tracks that essentially offer an alternate version of WYWH, including a never-before-heard demo of “Welcome to the Machine,” a pedal steel version of the title track and — for the first time ever — the complete, uninterrupted “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9)” mixed by James Guthrie. Also included in the set are 16 live recordings captured by legendary bootlegger Mike Millard at Pink Floyd’s Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26th 1975, now receiving its first official release. Those who get the deluxe box will also enjoy an additional LP featuring Floyd’s 1974 performance at London’s Wembley Stadium, plus a Blu-ray featuring concert screen films and a Storm Thorgerson short movie, a replica Japanese 7-inch single of “Have A Cigar” b/w “Welcome To The Machine,” a hardcover book including unseen photographs, a comic book tour programme and Knebworth concert poster. Regardless of where you stand on Roger Waters’ questionable politics, you cannot deny the ultimate fan service this box delivers to lifelong Floyd fans.
Buy the Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here: 50th Anniversary Edition here.
The Beatles Anthology
Price: $129.98 (CD), $50 (Book)
It was 30 years ago this fall when the surviving members of The Beatles reunited for the first significant dive into the archives for a multimedia event that — in the middle of the alt-rock era — reminded music fans who the Fab Four were and why so many live by their music. In addition to the remastered eight-part documentary being streamed on Disney+, the original six-disc audio portion of Anthology — filled with alternate takes of songs spanning all three eras of the group’s decade of action — has been remastered and amended to include an equally rarities-rich fourth volume that contains previously unreleased versions of such canon as “In My Life,” “If I Fell” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” among many others. And the best part is that all eight CDs come in new vinyl-style digipak packaging that’s roughly about the size of one of the original CD sets in ‘95 and ‘96. Additionally, Chronicle Books — in conjunction with Apple Corps. Ltd. — has also released a 25th anniversary edition of the Anthology book, thankfully shrunken down to a more reasonable size than its doorstop of a predecessor from 2000. Yet despite its smaller stature, this 368 page tome still packs an emotional punch as you comb through over 1,300 images of the band and their countless amounts of memorabilia, augmented by heartfelt narratives from family and friends as well as George, Macca and Ringo themselves.
Buy The Beatles Anthology here.
Who Are You Super Deluxe Edition
Price: $124.98
The Who’s final LP with Keith Moon behind the drum kit gets flak from critics for its generous use of synthesizers and curiosity for the burgeoning new wave era. But for Gen X-age kids too young to remember when Tommy or Quadrophenia came out, 1978’s Who Are You felt like our own Who record, warts and all. This exhaustive 7-CD/1-blu-Ray Super Deluxe Edition is for those fans, as it fleshes out the period surrounding the album’s original release with such enticing rarities as the original Glyn Johns mix of Who Are You, a small trove of John Entwistle demos, live tracks from the Shepperton 1978 concert filmed for The Kids Are Alright and a whole disc of performances from their 1979 U.S. tour with new drummer Kenney Jones. Plus with a 100-page hardcover book loaded with insight and visuals accompanying the music in its 12” x 12” slipcase, this SDE is a must-own for diehard Who fans who appreciate this period in the group’s career.
Buy the Who Are You Super Deluxe Edition here.
Bruce Springsteen Nebraska ‘82: Expanded Edition
Price: $79.99
Released in conjunction with the Scott Cooper-directed biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s stark folk masterpiece Nebraska, this four-disc box set contains arguably the ultimate holy grail among fans of The Boss. That, of course, being the electric edition of Nebraska featuring a pared-down version of the E Street Band delivering blistering versions of six of the album’s tracks plus early, more primal versions of two songs that would appear on Born in the U.S.A. two years later: the title track, stripped down to its most visceral essence, and “Downbound Train.” Also included here is a disc of Nebraska outtakes, demos and B-sides from the time, a remastered version of the original LP and — on both CD and Blu-Ray — Springsteen’s live performance of Nebraska at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, from earlier this year. Arguably even more so than the Tracks II box, Nebraska ‘82 is an imperative gift suggestion for the Boss fan in your life.
Buy the Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition here.
The Black Crowes Amorica Super Deluxe Edition
Price: $199.98
Upon its release in late 1994, the Black Crowes’ third album sliced right through the alternative rock boom of the day with a both visually and sonically daring work that boldly brought greasy, soulful AOR back into the conversation while alarming censors by borrowing its cover art from the Bicentennial issue of Hustler Magazine. In belated honor of its 30th anniversary comes this excellent deluxe box set, which contains an expanded edition of the original LP to include three B-sides (namely their cover of Taj Mahal’s “Chevrolet” from the “Wiser Time” single); Tallest, which is nine newly remixed songs from the sessions for the album the band scrapped prior to making Amorica; the Marie Laveau Sessions from October 1992 featuring three previously unreleased recordings in “Bitter, Bitter You,” “Title Song,” and “Paris Song,” an instrumental that evolves into the Amorica track “Cursed Diamond” and four live tracks that were recorded for a worldwide live radio broadcast to premiere Amorica from AIR Studios in London, UK, on Oct. 25, 1994. And for those who wisely choose the LP version of this box set, other ephemera contained within includes a fanzine with an interview with Chris and Rich chronicling the evolution of Amorica, a classic 20″x30” poster, a bumper sticker and a slip mat.
Buy the Amorica Super Deluxe Edition here.
Mötley Crüe Theatre of Pain: 40th Anniversary
Price: $150
Originally released on the Summer Solstice of 1985 in the wake of singer Vince Neil’s drunk driving arrest and bassist Nikki Sixx’s heroin addiction, Mötley Crüe’s third album saw the band move beyond the heavy metal purity of their classic first two LPs and closer towards a more pop-induced formula that punched up the glam in both their looks and their sound. This deluxe limited edition vinyl-only box set commemorates the 40th anniversary of Theatre of Pain by revamping the original LP on colored vinyl and expanding the set to include a rare demos LP and a previously unreleased complete live show from Long Beach, California during the Theatre Of Pain tour. There’s also a 76-page hardcover book with a bunch of previously unpublished photos from the tour as well. This lavish box set would make a perfect addition to your “Home Sweet Home.”
Buy the Theatre of Pain: 40th Anniversary here.
The Cars Heartbeat City: 40th Anniversary Edition
Bill Janovitz The Cars: Let The Stories Be Told
Price: $67.98 (Box Set), $32.50 (Book)
2025 was a pretty incredible year to be a fan of The Cars with the emergence of both a tell-all book and a deluxe edition of their biggest album. Written by Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz (his third book), The Cars: Let The Stories Be Told delivers a full detailing of the Boston new wave icons’ tumultuous decade together, dissecting each of their six studio albums and discussing the group’s troubled history with surviving members keyboard player Greg Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton and drummer David Robinson in what Hawkes called “therapeutic.” It’s a smart, heartfelt love letter to a great American band whose biggest album — 1984’s Heartbeat City — enjoys a 4CD/1LP deluxe expansion that serves as a perfect counterpoint to the book. Filled with B-sides, demos, remixes and early takes before Mutt Lange got his hands on it, this set goes deep into what made the album’s 10 original songs so unforgettable. But the jewel of this edition of Heartbeat is the audio debut of the band’s concert at The Summit in Houston on Sept. 11, 1984, originally released on VHS and Laserdisc as The Cars – Live 1984-1985. Revel in the “Magic” of The Cars’ legacy with these essential gift ideas.
Buy Heartbeat City: 40th Anniversary Edition here.
Buy The Cars: Let The Stories Be Told here.
Bob Dylan Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963
Price: $159.99
So rumor has it this 18th volume of the 34-year-old Bob Dylan Bootleg Series will be the final one in the collection. If that is, in fact, the case, what a better way to close it out than Through the Open Window. With recordings dating back to a 15-year-old Bob cutting a do-it-yourself 78 performing Shirley and Lee’s rendition of “Let the Good Times Roll” at a St. Paul, Minnesota, music shop in 1956, this eight-disc box set traces the musical journey of the young Bard from his hometown of Hibbing to New York City, where he’d eventually find himself headlining Carnegie Hall. Even more than Dylan’s own Chronicles: Volume One and James Mangold’s hit film A Complete Unknown, Through the Open Window is the definitive look into these crucial early years that have been so romanticized these past 70 years.
Buy Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963 here.
Ghostnote
Ghostnote is a revolutionary marketplace where music lovers can partake in a piece of musical history. Each item on Ghostnote is a genuine artifact from an artist’s world — something truly one-of-a-kind that was written, played, drawn or worn during the act of creation. Artists can post an item, provide context or backstory, and if an offer is made that inspires them, hit the accept button and pass the item on. Every item retains the artists’ story and authenticity within Ghostnote’s ecosystem, while registering every new owner who helps carry it forward. The best part: each time the item exchanges hands, the artist receives a royalty, enabling an entirely new revenue stream. For a limited time, Ghostnote has created a gift-giving page to make sure that offers on select items are accepted and arrive in time for the holidays.
