🎵 Ultimate Music Pro Holiday Gift Guide
The holiday season has arrived as swiftly as fresh snowfall, bringing with it a perfect chance to celebrate the ones whose love languages are gifts and music. And while most musicians have an uncanny ability to spot what’s next before anyone else, this year you can still surprise them. Whether you’re shopping for a veteran producer, a rising songwriter, a sharp-eared music supervisor, or a playlist curator on the come-up, this expanded Brit Fox Studios Holiday Gift Guide has a thoughtful pick for every creative path — and every budget.
🎛️ For the Music Producer
From bedroom beatmakers to full-time studio engineers, these tools inspire creativity and deliver professional-grade results.
Electronics & Studio Tools
Universal Audio Apollo Twin X — Pristine A/D conversion and DSP power for radio-ready production.
Arturia KeyLab 61 MkII — A tactile, expressive MIDI controller built for hybrid workflow.
Shure SM7B — The industry’s beloved vocal microphone for studio tracking and broadcast audio.
Audioengine A5+ Speakers — Crisp, powerful nearfields equally suited for mixing and everyday listening.
Software & Plugin Essentials
Waves Complete V14 Bundle — 200+ award-winning plugins for mixing, mastering, and sound design.
iZotope Music Production Suite — AI-assisted tone shaping, cleanup, and mastering tools.
Native Instruments Komplete 14 — A massive library of instruments and effects for limitless sonic exploration.
Unique Accessories
Portable vocal-recording booth
Studio cable-management kits
Swarovski crystal jazz-drum — a stunning detail piece for any studio shelf
Monitor isolation pads
Ergonomic stands for keyboards and controllers
✍️ For the Songwriter
Fuel their inspiration and help ideas flow wherever creativity strikes.
Creativity Tools
Teenage Engineering OP-1 — A compact, experimental songwriting powerhouse.
Moleskine staff-paper journals
High-fidelity digital voice recorders
Inspiration Gear
Hand-crafted analog lyric journals
Cloud-storage subscriptions for demos
Curated prompt and songwriting card decks
A 3D-printed musical-instrument chess set — each piece designed as a different instrument
Vintage Ohio Arts tin drum (1940s) — a nostalgic collector’s gem
💼 For the Music Supervisor
For the pros juggling briefs, licensing, clearances, and deadlines across screens and databases.
Professional Gear
MacBook Pro (M-series) — Fast, reliable, built for multi-tasking and audio review.
Multi-monitor arm systems
RAID-protected backup drives for massive catalog storage
Licensing & Research Tools
SoundExchange membership
Licensing-database and clearance-management software
Passes to industry conferences (SyncSummit, Music Biz, AIMP)
🎧 For Playlist Curators
Tools and comforts for the tastemakers shaping tomorrow’s listening habits.
Tech Essentials
headphones
Streaming-platform gift cards
External hard drives for music libraries
High-quality audio interfaces for reviewing submissions
Lifestyle & Comfort
Multi-device wireless charging docks
Portable Bluetooth speakers
Adjustable desk lighting for marathon curation sessions
📚 Professional Development Resources
Support their long-term creative growth — the most valuable gifts of all.
Gift Cards & Credits
Recording-studio session credits
Professional mixing & mastering credits
Remote/mobile recording vouchers
Home-studio upgrade vouchers
Planning Tools
Digital music-launch timelines
Annual music-business planners
Quarterly goal-tracking notebooks
Social-content calendar templates
🤝 Mentorship & Networking
The gift of access can change a creator’s entire career trajectory.
1:1 industry-consulting sessions
Online masterclass subscriptions (production, songwriting, sync, business)
Music-business strategy intensives
Memberships with AIMP, NARIP, and the Guild of Music Supervisors
Passes to major conferences and virtual summits
🔧 Additional Pro Resources
Music-licensing workshops
EPK & digital-portfolio development
Personal-branding consultations
Curated industry-contact databases
Artist content-marketing audits
Check out our other GIFT GUIDES:
💸 Budget-Friendly Picks $50 or less
Quality gifts without the premium price tag.
Streaming-service gift cards
Wireless earbuds
Online micro-course vouchers
Music-themed desk accents
Pocket-sized lyric notebooks
⭐Perfect Gifts for Musical Kids: Inspire Their Inner Musician⭐
For kids with a passion for music, gifts that spark creativity and exploration can make a world of difference. Instruments like ukuleles, keyboards, or small percussion sets are perfect for hands-on learning, while interactive music toys and apps can introduce rhythm, melody, and composition in a playful way. Sheet music, beginner-friendly songbooks, and colorful tuners help nurture budding skills, and headphones or mini speakers let them enjoy and experiment with sound. Even gifts that celebrate their love of music—like music-themed clothing, room décor, or DIY instrument kits—encourage a lifelong appreciation for the art. Whether they’re singing, drumming, or composing, these thoughtful gifts keep young musicians inspired and engaged.
Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive Beats For Sale
Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive Beats: What’s the Difference?
Pros vs. Cons
Exploring Non-Exclusive Leasing Rights
for Beats or Instrumentals
Non exclusive beats can be great for people starting out.
Expressing ourselves is our true core of being an artist. Writing for therapy, using music to spread a message or simply getting your 1,000,000 songs under your belt requires a lot of time, energy and investment. Many artists start with a small budget and grand ideas.
For this moment in your journey, I recommend leasing non-exclusive beats. On the plus-side it gives you the creative freedom to become an artists.
For many producers, leasing beats is a fast, easy, profitable way to make money overnight by selling a beat to multiple artists at a small fee. The producer doesn’t have to to create more with each new artist, yet can make more money off the same beat.
As an added benefit, “stepped on” or non-exclusive beats are a less expensive option for artists to express themselves.
Leasing beats comes with some downfalls, however. The ability to profit, promote and use your full creation (music + lyrics + recording) is limited.
Once the lease reaches a certain amount of plays, artists are required to buy another lease for the beat. Leasing beats is like the Netflix of the music industry, a non-exclusive leased beats acts more like a renewable subscription service to stream your music. Failure to adhere to these terms could result in legal consequences too.
However, it’s not the best way to legally protect your rights, your brand and your craft as a creator. Another artist could easily override your craft, distribution, credit and tracking simply because they own part of the beat too. If a lease isn’t renewed per agreement, a producer that owns the non-exclusive beat can remove your track, claim full license, all your monetary earnings and get full credit at any time, therefore making all of your future and previous earning legally go directly to them. Labels, A&R and national radio airplay services will not play music that is non-exclusive for this reason and others, including the fact of unclearly defined ownership or credit.
Non-exclusive beats or Free Youtube type beats are low-quality versions of the instrumental and do not include all the frequencies available in the mix due to the MP3 being a lesser quality than a high-quality WAV or trackout. When you legally purchase the beat you get the advantage of having it without the tags or as a WAV which is higher quality.
Many performing artists notice a huge difference with Non-Exclusive vs Original Exclusive beats with the final mix. It may sound distorted, harsh or muddy when playing loud in the car or at a live venue.
An non-exclusive MP3 track is great for limited promotion, songwriting, practicing or rehearsing lyrics before your studio session but it is not great for showcasing, sharing the song with others or major distribution. This is because it doesn’t show off the best essence of the song - only a blueprint of it. If you want the very best sound for your music consider Exclusive beats...
The Benefits of Exclusive Ownership Rights for Artists
Creative minds thrive when it comes to exclusive rights. Unlimited use, unlimited revenue, unlimited remixes and ownership of the music are just some of the big perks that come with owning your music. Once a producer creates an original production with you, it’s just between the two of you. No one else can use the beat (legally) and revenue goes directly to the owners of the music. (Tip: make sure you have your PRO set up to collect your royalties)
It’s more of an investment up-front, but it’s the only way to maintain your rights as an artists too. With a split sheet, an artist gets full authorship (a writing credit/royalty) and shares the composer credit with the producer. The artist also has the complete freedom to do whatever they like with the instrumental.
Producers of exclusive beats give different versions of the beat for more in-depth performances and mixing and mastering. Different versions can include a high-quality WAV, MP3, & Performance (LIVE) tracks. A tracked-version is also kept on file so your vocals are mixed to perfection versus a one-dimension mixing & mastering of a non-exclusive beat, exclusive beats allow you to make your song more customizable, add more depth & give your vocals more presence. Ultimately, having a 3d mix and master of your record sounds best because the vocals can move within the beat instead of sitting on top of all of the instruments.
Record labels will only consider artists who create songs exclusively as original music. If you think about it from their point-of-view, it’s easier to market, sign and distribute. Therefore, serious recording artists will choose collaborating directly with a producer to create an original piece of music from scratch instead of grabbing a “(FREE Download) FAMOUS ARTIST NAME type beat”. Additionally, exclusive beats are ideal for album releases since you will be the only artist in the world with that music.
Rights Recap on Beats for Sale
In summary, if your goal as an artist is longevity, land major label deals, get signed, monetize your music and/or perform live an exclusive license may be best for you. However, if you’re sharing mixtapes for free to “get your feet wet” try opting for non-exclusive licenses. The biggest difference between the two is originality. Non-exclusive is great for those who are just starting, writing for fun or sharing without collecting money. Exclusive is perfect for the serious recording artist looking for an authentic studio session experience and business and brands.
Conclusion: Use What's Right for You
Hope this helps in deciding which beat is right for you! What lessons have you learned from exclusive versus non-exclusive beats? Do you have a preference? What's the best time to get a non-exclusive beat versus an Exclusive beat? Do you think producers should have usage limits on their non-exclusive music? Reach out to us to share your story!
Let’s Get in Touch and Talk About Your music
We specialize in creating one-on-one with recording artists, bands, commercial brands, music departments and supervisors. If you’re looking for original production to, try my custom one-stop beats which can be licensed. Send me a message here.
more by @xfoxrox