Gift guide: Music lover

The problem with Christmas shopping for a music-loving friend is not the lack of items one could buy, but the wide range of possibilities that exist. Whether the friend is a country fanatic or a metal head, there are far better gifts for him or her than an iTunes gift card.

"A Christmas Story: The Musical" tickets, New York, starting at $49, wherever tickets are sold

Instead of asking your friend a thousand questions about which albums they don't have to find the perfect tunes, you can buy them tickets to a Broadway musical. Plus, getting them into the holiday spirit with "A Christmas Story" musical will help ease the pain of term papers and finals. Or if you can’t afford the tickets, you can always buy the musical on DVD, so they can attempt to relive the experience at home.

The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, $12, Princeton Record Exchange

There’s something gratifying about collecting records just for the sake of saying, “I have that on the original LP.” A music lover doesn’t actually have to own a record player to enjoy an LP, especially if the cover is a kickass one, like Sgt. Pepper. At least it'll provide eye candy even though your friend can’t actually enjoy the music.

"Sense of Music," $20, Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau St.

Even your music lover needs to take a break from the jams sometime, so find them an interesting read to keep them busy. There are a plethora of books about music at Labyrinth (with topics that include the philosophy of music, historical allusions in contemporary music and even sexual connotations in music). However, I recommend "Sense of Music." From the back cover: "This book is addressed to the listener whose enjoyment of music is filled with questions and whose curiosity makes him eager to grasp the sense of music.” Yup, definitely a book for a music lover.