The best gifts for musicians in 2025
Browse the best gifts for musicians in 2025 to find the perfect gift for the musician in your life including home recording equipment, music production software, affordable gifts for under $50, and more.
It can be hard to find that perfect gift for today’s musician. Guitars aren’t as popular as they once were, drum sets are bulky. Also, musicians, producers, and engineers purchase much of their own gear themselves, so it might seem like there’s nothing else to get them.
Still, there’s plenty you can get the musician in your life. Whether that special someone is a music professional or just getting started on their music production journey, we’ve outlined some of the best gifts for musicians in 2025.
Browse this gift guide for musicians in the following categories:
What is a good gift to get a musician?
The best gift for any musician is your full support: be a body at their shows so they can book bigger venues. Purchase their music directly from them, as streaming services are taking bigger and bigger slices of the pie.
That being said, musicians also prefer tools and goodies to make their work easier – or at least, more fun. The specific trinket depends on the kind of musician in question, and with that in mind, we offer the following gift ideas divided by category.
Music production software
Music production software is one of the best gifts for musicians because it opens the doors for them to flex their creativity in new and exciting ways. Whether they’re a seasoned mix engineer, an aspiring producer, or just enjoy experimenting with designing sounds, these software options are some of the best gifts for any musician.
The best AI-assisted mixing, mastering, and audio repair software bundle
iZotope
Music Production Suite 7
All of the Catalyst series plugins are on hand as well. Guitar Rig 7 Pro and various Native Instruments effects are provided. Rounding off the bundle are multiple offerings from Brainworx.
Useful for literally every part of the music production process, Music Production Suite 8 is sure to bring a smile to the face of the engineer in your life.
If you want the musician in your life to experience the Music Production Suite, but find the pricing a little too steep, consider giving them a year of the Music Production Suite Pro subscription.
Gift Music Production Suite Pro
The best songwriting, beatmaking, and music production software bundle
Perfect for the person who wants as many sounds as possible under their fingertips, Komplete 15 Standard offers over 95 premium instruments and effects, more than 50 Expansions, and north of 50,000 sounds.
That's a lot of sonic possibility. But here's what makes it genuinely useful: everything from the Kontakt 8, with its loop playground and wavetable modulation engine, to essential synths like Massive X lives under one roof. No hunting through multiple installers or wondering if your libraries will play nice together. Useful additions like iZotope’s Ozone Standard will help your giftee take their work to a release-ready place.
For bedroom producers and studio aficionados alike, Komplete 15 Standard provides the tools to craft signature sound, no matter what style they’re working in. It's one of those rare bundles that actually earns its "complete" label.
Pro-grade mixing and mastering VST collection (with 200+ plugins)
Plugin Alliance unites some of the best-known plugin companies under one virtual roof, and their collection here does not disappoint. With their subscription, the special person in your life gets hundreds of top-quality plugins from over 40 brands, including fantastic offerings from iZotope and Native Instruments.
While this is a subscription, it comes with yearly vouchers that allow people to keep their favorite selections in perpetuity, so you’re actually getting them many gifts in one!
Gift Plugin Alliance Subscription
The essential music creation subscription
Look, buying someone a massive plugin bundle as a one-time purchase is a big commitment, both financially and emotionally. What if they don't gel with it? What if they need something different six months from now? That's where the NI 360 bundle comes in, giving your favorite producer access to over 150 plugins with regular new additions in a flexible subscription model that won't lock anyone into one approach.
The bundle offers instruments, effects, and mastering tools from Native Instruments, iZotope, and Brainworx. It’s basically everything from synths to mastering suites, all in one place.
The three tiers mean you can match the gift to their actual needs. Starting out? Essentials gets them moving. Ready to explore more sonic territory? Expand the palette with Plus. Working professionally? Pro delivers the complete collection without the sticker shock of buying everything outright.
For the producer who's constantly curious, always experimenting, or just starting to figure out their sound – 360 keeps the creative options wide open without breaking the bank. It's a gift that evolves with them.
The industry-standard audio repair software
Whether they’re cleaning up a podcast from their bedroom, rescuing dialogue on a film set, mixing home-recorded tracks, or mastering at the professional level, iZotope RX 11 is the gold standard for fixing problematic audio.
From hums and clicks to clipped takes and noisy air conditioners, RX can handle it all, letting the user see everything with forensic precision. Beginners will find solace in an even-smarter Repair Assistant – a tool that not only fixes audio, but teaches the user how to use RX.
This latest version also brings a host of upgrades that make cleanup faster and more transparent. Dialogue Isolate now features smart, built-in ambience elimination and improved real-time performance. Music Rebalance has been re-engineered with better Stem Separation for vocals, bass, and drums, making it great for remixers or mastering engineers salvaging a stereo bounce.
Add in the brand-new Loudness Optimize and Streaming Preview modules, which let you audition and tailor mixes for different streaming platforms, and RX 11 becomes a fantastic finishing tool for any job.
The vocal production plugin with a release-ready sound
Nectar 4 is iZotope’s powerhouse production suite for vocals. With reverbs, delays, modulation effects, and automatic harmony generation, Nectar can turn any vocal performance into a stellar, attention-grabbing set piece.
Of course, like most iZotope plugins, Nectar comes stacked with AI-assistive tech to carve out the perfect starting place for any track. Then you can shape the proceedings into a truly polished result thanks to all of Nectar’s powerful modules.
The best mixing suite with powerful AI assistance
If your giftee is serious about mixing, iZotope Neutron 5 is the one-stop shop for getting every track to sit just right. It’s a full-on channel strip that brings together compressors, equalizers, transient shapers, gates, saturation, and spectral shaping – all working in one intuitive interface. Thanks to iZotope’s signature inter-plugin communication, Neutron helps mixers see and solve mix conflicts across an entire session.
Neutron 5’s newest modules are, quite frankly, game changers – and I don’t say this lightly. The Clipper lets you add clean loudness or gritty drive exactly where you want it – on the kick, the snare, or the whole mix – without smearing transients or wrecking headroom. The new Phase module is a lifesaver, giving you both automatic and surgical control over phase relationships between tracks.
On a mix-bus level, the Phase module helps to preserve headroom by ensuring the waveform is centered, and therefore, not measuring louder than it actually is. Neutron now features other goodies, such as mid/side routing, transient/sustain processing, and oversampling for the distortive modules.
All of this combines into a faster, smarter, more musical way to mix – one that bridges intuition with precision, and makes any production sound cohesive from the ground up.
Home recording equipment
With the rise of technology, high quality recording gear has become more affordable. It’s no wonder why home studios have become increasingly popular in recent years. Studio time can be pricey, so many modern musicians opt to record at home in makeshift vocal booths. These next few gift ideas for musicians are sure to take the quality of their recordings to the next level.
Entry-level audio interface: Arturia MiniFuse 2
For the singer-songwriter, podcaster, or producer just starting out, the MiniFuse 2 nails the essentials. You get two clean mic/instrument inputs, zero-latency monitoring, and surprisingly robust preamps for the price. Arturia also bundles great starter software–Ableton Live Lite, plugins, and effects–so it’s basically a home studio in a box. Compact, sturdy, and bus-powered, it’s ideal for recording on the go.
Mid-tier audio interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
A modern classic for a reason, the Scarlett 2i2 has launched a thousand careers at this point. Offering more than decent converters, low-noise mic preamps, and Focusrite’s Air mode for a touch of analog-style brightness, it’s the perfect balance between portability and fidelity. With two sets of inputs and outputs, it’s a good fit for anyone who’s outgrown their first interface but doesn’t need a full rack of gear.
Advanced audio interface: Steinberg UR44C
If your musician needs more than two simultaneous inputs – and doesn’t want to go for a full desk – the UR44C brings a lot to the table. Four mic/line inputs, MIDI I/O, rock-solid USB-C connectivity, and onboard DSP effects make it a small but mighty hub for more complex sessions. It’s the only one of these options with 32-bit converters, and it’s built like a tank.
Shure SM57 microphone
This mic is an absolute classic for recording nearly anything. As the old saying goes, you could even hammer a nail with it: the mic is that sturdy.
With a windscreen and an easily searchable equalizer preset, you can even get close to the classic SM7B sound on vocals (close, but not matching).
This is truly a great gift for any engineer. I still have and use the one I bought twenty years ago. It still works. It has the same room agnostic qualities as the Shure SM7B at a fraction of the price.
Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone
For those looking for an exceptional quality microphone on a budget, the Audio-Technica AT2020 offers fantastic value. It's a solid choice for home studio setups, recording the singing voice, and capturing acoustic instruments.
Hard drives
Digital storage is one of those gifts that seems boring until your friend's internal drive fills up mid-session. A 1 or 2 TB portable hard drive gives them breathing room for project files, sample libraries, and session backups. It's the kind of practical gift that gets used constantly but rarely bought for oneself.
Headphones and studio monitors
Headphones and studio monitors are critical to a musician’s ability to listen to what they’re recording and how their production sounds. We’ve rounded up several great choices to get them started or upgrade their current setup.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones
The Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones are highly regarded for their durability and sonics. Musicians, audio engineers, and producers often choose them for their critical listening needs. They’re great for tracking instruments, mixing in a pinch, and listening to favorite records. The musician in your life will appreciate a pair!
Gift Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones
Sony MDR-7506 headphones
Sony's MDR-7506 headphones are a trusted companion for audio professionals. Renowned for their reliability, these headphones have been a staple in recording studios for years. They offer a crisp and detailed audio experience, making them ideal for podcasting and post-production in particular, as any possibility of sibilance will be clearly showcased.
Yamaha HS5 speakers
These inexpensive speakers are modeled on classic monitors from the 1970s, making them a great gift for a musician looking to improve their mix setup. These speakers deliver accuracy and transparency to ensure the listener is hearing a track as it truly is.
Kali Audio IN-8 V2 Speakers
Kali Audio took the world by storm when they entered the scene with their phenomenal sound reproduction, offered at unbeatable prices. The IN-8 V2 might just give you the best bang for your buck, as they’re trusted by bedroom producers and even a few select mastering engineers.
Keyboards
Gifting a keyboard to a musician for the holidays can ignite their creativity and expand their musical horizons, offering them a versatile tool to experiment with different sounds and styles. It also provides the convenience of practicing and composing music in the comfort of their own space, enhancing their skills and dedication to their craft.
Kontrol S-Series Keyboard
If someone in your life is on the hunt for the perfect keyboard-based MIDI controller, surprise them with a Kontrol S-Series model, available in 49-key, 61-key, and 88-key configurations. These keyboards have been redesigned from the ground up to give players semi-weighted keys, polyphonic aftertouch, encoders and knobs galore, DAW transport controls, a touch-sensitive smart-strip, and MIDI 2.0 compatibility.
You might not know what any of that means, but the gift recipient will—and they’ll be happy you got them something so versatile, as well as something tailor-made for Native Instrument’s renowned Komplete software. Take the light guide, for example: this handy feature allows users to easily identify key switches, drum cells, and other integral features offered within many Kontakt patches.
And for a limited time, Kontrol S-Series S88 comes with Fables and Lores for free. S49 and S61 models choose between Lores or Fables.
Gift Kontrol S-Series Keyboards
Komplete Kontrol A-Series Keyboards
As gifts go, S-series keyboards are like an engagement ring: they imply a heavy commitment to the craft. For those looking to “move in” with the concept of music production, Native Instrument’s A-series controllers are a much more suitable fit.
These streamlined MIDI controllers cover the basics for triggering sounds in your DAW from a MIDI keyboard, including semi-weighted keys, control knobs, modulation wheels, and other goodies. You can find the A series in 25-key, 49-key, and 61-key configurations. The A series controllers come with the Komplete Select bundle of software, a $199 value included for free.
Gift Kontrol A-Series keyboard
Komplete Kontrol M32 keyboard
Extending our above analogy further, the M32 keyboard is the perfect gift for the person in your life who’s just decided to “go steady” with the concept of music production.
These ergonomic and slim 32-key keyboards provide essential controls over virtual instruments in a DAW environment. These keyboards come with the same Komplete Select bundle as the A-Series controllers.
DJ and MIDI controllers
MIDI controllers, mixing controllers, and DJ decks make great gifts for a certain kind of audio person, as they allow producers and engineers to control music software in a more intuitive way.
Whether the musician in your life is a master at programming beats or they’re just starting to dabble in DJing, the following controllers are sure to provide them with hours of creative fun.
Traktor X1 MK3
This portable DJ controller is the perfect choice for the budding DJ in your life, especially if they plan to use Traktor Pro as their software of choice. The Traktor X1 MK3 offers four rotary encoders, five OLED displays, and ways to control the music on the floor.
Plus, it's powered by a 15 VDC power supply or USB. Its onboard USB hub keeps everything tidy, allowing DJs to connect CDJs – or even daisy-chain more X1s as their rig grows. A welcome addition to any musician's gear collection, the Traktor X1 MK3 is a gateway to a world of DJing.
And for a limited time, the Traktor X1 MK3 is on sale.
Traktor MX2
If the X1 MK3 feels a little too minimal for your giftee, the Traktor MX2 ups the ante with a true hands-on setup that still fits in a backpack. This 2-channel controller keeps things streamlined while adding all the tactile stuff DJs crave: touch-sensitive jog wheels, 16 responsive RGB pads, and a clean 24-bit/96 kHz interface that sounds great in any setting.
It’s built for immediacy – load a track, tap a pad, twist an effect, and you’re performing. With Traktor’s new Stems and Pattern Player features onboard (and Traktor Pro 4 included), it’s a compact way to get deep into creative mixing right out of the box.
Gift Traktor MX2 DJ controller
Maschine MK3
This hardware controller, supplied with integrated software, is a combination sequencer, sampler, plugin host, and multi-effects unit, catering to beat-making and live performance. With its intuitive touch-sensitive pads, color-coding, and an 8 GB sample library, creating drum patterns, bass lines, and melodies is a breeze.
The hardware interface features a 24-bit/96 kHz USB audio interface, high-resolution displays, touch-sensitive rotary potentiometers, and more. MIDI ports allow for easy connections to additional gear. Maschine MK3 bridges the gap between computer-based production and hands-on control, offering seamless handling of samples, effects, and plugins.
Maschine MK3 is on sale now, and for a limited time only, Maschine comes with a free Brainworx Mix Essentials bundle (including AMEK EQ 250, bx_limiter True Peak, bx_boom V3, bx_refinement V3, bx_opto) and your choice of a curated sound pack bundle (including three Expansions).
Maschine Mikro
If Maschine MK3 punches a little above your wallet’s weight class, check out Maschine Mikro for the electronic producer in your life. This more portable version of a Maschine interface provides many of the accoutrements of the previously mentioned model in a more cost-friendly package.
Maschine Mikro is on sale now, and for a limited time only, it comes with a free Brainworx Mix Essentials bundle (including AMEK EQ 250, bx_limiter True Peak, bx_boom V3, bx_refinement V3, bx_opto) and your choice of a curated sound pack bundle (including three Expansions).
Affordable music gifts under $50
Not every gift needs to break the bank to be genuinely useful. Sometimes the best presents are the ones that solve annoying little problems your producer friend deals with every single day. Here's where smart spending meets real-world workflow improvements.
You can also use these as real (and virtual) stocking stuffers for musicians.
A clean, intelligent reverb plugin
Aurora is a smart reverb plugin that keeps mixes sounding spacious without getting muddy. It reacts to your audio in real time, helping instruments and vocals stay clear while still sitting in a lush, three-dimensional space. With six reverb types, over 60 presets, and handy onboard filters, it’s an easy way to add polish and depth to any track. For under $50, it’s a seriously powerful upgrade for any engineer.
Mic boom arms for podcasters and bedroom producers
Mic boom arms are convenient for bedroom producers, who often need a compact and useful way of holding up a microphone for anything from a quick recording session to a podcast about their work. Boom arms keep a small space tidy, and many are affordable at under 50 dollars.
Headphone holders
If someone really cares about their thousand-dollar headphones, a headphone holder of some kind makes a nice gift. Even budget options would be appreciated. These are regularly available under 50 bucks.
Many can be aesthetically pleasing, but also protective. A headphone stand helps prevent the typical damage that often befalls studio cans.
Cable management solutions
Nothing kills creative flow like wrestling with a rat’s nest of cable clutter. Simple cable ties, cable clips, or a basic cable sleeve can turn a chaotic desk into a workspace where you can actually think.
And we're talking $10–15 here for enough supplies to organize an entire studio setup. The mental clarity alone is worth it.
Gift cable management solutions
Guitar strings
For the guitarists and bassists in your life, you can't go wrong with a multi-pack of their preferred strings. It's consumable, it's necessary, and every player has a moment where they're down to their last set. Throw in some string winders or a maintenance kit, and you've got a gift that'll actually get opened with enthusiasm.
Gear cleaning and maintenance
Screen cleaning kits, compressed air for keyboards, contact cleaner for jacks and pots, microfiber cloths – this is the stuff professionals need but rarely prioritize buying. A well-curated cleaning kit shows you understand that maintaining gear is just as important as acquiring it. Plus, a clean workspace leads to better decisions, fewer distractions, and equipment that lasts longer.
Free music gifts
If you’re on a budget for your musician gifts this season, we have a couple of thoughtful and useful options for free!
The professional-grade free music production bundle
This gift is no skin off your back, as this music production bundle is free. Give the music producer in your life over 2,000 studio-quality sounds including 16 synths and virtual instruments, loops, and more in Komplete Start. This free bundle offers over 6 GB of sounds, which is a great way for any musician to expand their sonic palette.
And, even better yet, Komplete Start now includes the new Massive X Player, the standalone Ozone EQ plugin, along with tons of new software.
Ozone EQ
One of the best EQs in the game is now free if you have a Native Access account. The EQ from Ozone provides clean, clickable bands for shaping the sound with mastering-grade accuracy. One of the few EQs that lets users move between minimum-phase and linear-phase operation on a per-band basis, Ozone is perfect for handling the stereo bus.
If the music person in your life knows what anything we’ve just written means, you should definitely give them this free gift.
Musicians will thank you
When it comes to gift giving, musicians can often be some of the toughest to buy for. But, hopefully this list will help you narrow down your search for the perfect gift for the musician in your life.
And if you’re looking for another free gift, tell your musician to go to iZotope’s Learn site or the Native Instruments blog to access free tutorials on music production, mixing, and mastering.
