The problem: You want to give music to someone with a full record shelf and a definite taste. You do not know what they already have, and you do not want to give a record or a device that ends up unused.
The short route: Do not give equipment and do not gamble on a title. Give something for the records already on the shelf, let them choose for themselves with you there, or give an evening instead of an object.
Giving music to someone who has everything: why it is so hard
If you want to give music to someone who has everything, you run into a simple problem. A collector with a full shelf filled that shelf themselves, record by record, and usually knows exactly what is still missing. The gaps in a collection like that are rarely chance. Sometimes they are waiting for a particular pressing, sometimes an album was skipped on purpose, and sometimes it is already there, in an edition you do not recognise from the spine.
A record someone else chooses for you has to compete with the records you would buy yourself. For someone just starting out that is no problem: everything is new. For someone with a few hundred records, there is a good chance your choice is a duplicate, falls just outside their taste or is an edition they would rather not have. Then it gets played once out of politeness and put away.
If you do know something about the person, a habit, an artist who keeps coming back, an album that always goes on in the car, a record can be a fine gift. How to choose it is in the guide on giving vinyl as a gift that actually gets played. This guide is for when you do not know that, or when the shelf is so full that every title is a gamble.
Do not give equipment
The gift that goes wrong most often for someone with their own setup is equipment. A cartridge, a phono preamp, a pair of speakers or a cable seems a safe choice, because it fits the hobby and lasts for years. The problem is that such a part has to match the rest of the chain, and the person receiving it put that chain together themselves.
A new cartridge has to suit the tonearm and the preamp. A phono box is unnecessary if the amplifier already has a phono input, and two preamps in a row sound worse than one. Everything that can go wrong is in the guide on buying a phono preamp, and when a stylus really needs replacing is in the guide on replacing the stylus. If you do not know all of that about the person, you are buying on a guess, and with equipment a wrong guess is expensive.
There is something else as well. A part for someone's setup says, however well meant, that something is missing from that setup. Many people with their own setup have thought for a long time about what is there, and an upgrade chosen by someone else then feels more like a comment than a gift. So leave the equipment to the person who listens with it. If they ask for a particular part themselves, with make and model, it is a different story: then you buy what was asked for.
A gift for the records already on the shelf
What suits every taste is something for the records already on the shelf. A collector with a full shelf always has records in a torn or musty paper inner sleeve, and sleeves whose corners are starting to fray. New inner sleeves and outer sleeves are consumables: nobody has too many, and they get used up without anyone having to choose which record gets one.
Anti-static inner sleeves replace the paper that a record scrapes against as it slides in and out. Outer sleeves of clear plastic go around the whole sleeve and protect the spine and corners from wear on the shelf. Check the size of outer sleeves: they have to fit around a standard LP sleeve, and a double album or a gatefold sleeve sometimes needs a slightly roomier size. Why it makes a difference how records stand and in which sleeve is in the guide on storing records.
Make it a small package with a record brush and a microfibre cloth, as in the photo. The person probably already has a brush, but a second one then sits next to the turntable and the old one in the drawer, and that is not a waste. Better to leave out fluids and cleaning machines: people who clean records wet usually have their own method for it, and another product next to it is a gamble again. What a brush does and does not do is in the guide on cleaning records.
It is not an exciting gift to unwrap, and that is the drawback. The advantage is that it is still in use six months later, which you cannot say of most music gifts for a collector.
Let them choose, with you there
Someone who knows exactly what is missing chooses better than you do. That makes a gift voucher for a record shop the most precise gift for a collector, even though a voucher often feels to the giver like a choice they did not dare to make. Buy it from a shop the person already visits, or where you know there is a good second-hand crate, and not from a big online shop where the voucher disappears among the groceries.
You can also replace the voucher with an afternoon. Go to a record shop or a record fair together, and you pay for what they choose, up to an amount you name in advance. Then the person chooses for themselves and you have still given something you did together. You also see straight away where their taste lies, and that helps with next year's gift. What to look for with second-hand records is in the guide on buying second-hand vinyl, although the person probably does not need to learn that from you.
Agree that the choice does not have to justify what it costs or how it sounds. An afternoon of looking for records works best when the person may hesitate for a long time, may walk out empty-handed and may save the rest of the amount for another time.
An evening instead of an object
The gift someone with a full shelf receives least often is attention for that shelf. Ask whether you can come round for an evening of listening, and let them choose what goes on. One side each in turn works well: they put a record on, you listen, and whoever chose the record does not have to explain it. Bring something to drink yourself and leave your phone in your coat.
An evening like that needs nothing chosen and nothing stored. For many collectors it is also the rarest thing there is: someone who really wants to hear the records, rather than admire them or ask what they cost. How to have such an evening without it becoming a plan is in the guide on the listening evening.
If you still want something to hand over, write it on a card: a date, or the offer that the person can choose when. A concert ticket can work too, but only if you are sure they want to go to that show. Otherwise it is the same gamble as a record, with a date attached.
If you still want to give a record
If you really want to give a record, take the gamble out of it first. Many collectors keep a list online of what they have or are looking for, and a housemate or partner can walk past the shelf in a few minutes. Ask them, not the person themselves.
If you cannot find out, give a record that is about something other than the collection. A record from your own shelf that you have a story about, with that story on a card, is not a duplicate even if the title is already there: it is your copy. A record by a local band or from the city where you met works for the same reason. What the person does with a record like that matters less, because the gift is in why you chose it.
In every case, ask for the receipt and put it in the sleeve. With a collector a duplicate is no disaster, as long as it can be exchanged.
What it costs
A package of inner sleeves, outer sleeves and a brush usually costs between 20 and 50 euros, depending on how many sleeves you give. A pack of inner or outer sleeves usually holds 25 to 100, and with a large collection more is never too many.
A gift voucher or an afternoon in a record shop costs whatever you agree yourself. A listening evening costs nothing, apart from the bottle you bring.
It is one of the few gifts where spending more does not make it better. An expensive box set or a part for someone's setup is the biggest gamble, and an afternoon looking for records together the smallest. Anyone who has built a collection knows that its value lies in the evenings on which the records are played, and the guide on building a collection on a small budget explains why.
Frequently asked questions
- What do you give a music lover who has everything?
- Something for the records already on the shelf, such as anti-static inner sleeves, outer sleeves and a record brush. Or let them choose for themselves with a gift voucher or an afternoon together in a record shop, where you pay. A listening evening in which the person chooses the records is the gift a collector receives least often.
- Is equipment a good gift for someone with a turntable?
- Usually not. A cartridge, phono preamp, cable or speaker has to match the rest of someone's setup, and the person put that together themselves. Without knowing which arm, amplifier and inputs are there, you are buying on a guess. Only when they ask for a particular part themselves, with make and model, is it a safe choice.
- Is a record shop gift voucher a good present?
- For a collector it is, because they know exactly what is missing and choose better than you do. Buy the voucher from a shop the person already visits. More personal still is going to a record shop or fair together for an afternoon, where you pay for what they choose up to an amount you name in advance.
- How do you avoid giving a record someone already has?
- Ask a housemate or partner, who can walk past the shelf in a few minutes, or see whether the person keeps a list online. If that does not work, give a record with its own story, for example a copy from your own shelf, and put the receipt in the sleeve so a duplicate can be exchanged.