We hear it all the time, “I just have no idea what to get them…”. Everybody and their mother has an opinion on what to get and every publication has products that they are pushing this year. Pittsburgh Music Magazine is no exception, but we would like to take a somewhat different approach. We will try to pigeonhole some of your loved ones into categories and maybe you will find something that is unique and just happens to fit that special someone on your list:
The Classic Rocker:
Being into music ourselves, we always appreciate music oriented gifts. If you have a collector on your list, a real cool place to head to is PopMarket. 
Popmarket is “the ultimate shopping club for music fans offering its members limited-time private sales on the world’s coolest music”. Membership is free. Wolfgang’s Vault always has some very unique stuff on the memorabilia end (although it can be quite pricey). 
They typically carry a lot of items from the classic rock genre. Pete Townsend and Peter Criss and Jimmy Page came out with very interesting books recently that will keep any music lover glued to the pages
.
The Metal Maniac:
We would be remiss in pointing out that a permanent gift is always a great choice, and while we don’t reccommend any names on the skin, ink in the skin has a special meaning for many of us metalheads. If you are in the Pittsburgh tri-state area we have to point you to the best Human Production. 
The award winning artists Ben, Mark, and Jesse do nothing but custom tattoo work to ensure that your loved one has something truly unique blended with a safe and super clean environment. For the metal historian, a great read is Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Metal Masterpieces. 
Precious Metal gathers pieces from Decibel’s most popular feature, the monthly “Hall of Fame” which documents the making of landmark metal albums via candid, hilarious, and fascinating interviews with every participating band member. Of course if you have a budding metalaller at home, a great intro to learning about where the genre came from is Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal by Ian Cristie
. Some other cool spots to hit up some bundles that include a t-shirt, cd, and sometimes poster, or DVDs would be from some of the coolest labels like 
Metal Blade or 
Victory Records which have great stores and awesome deals. One of the coolest tours to look forward to will be Between the Buried and Me with Coheed and Cambria and Russian Circles
. They will be hitting Pittsburgh February 7 at Stage AE and a pair of tickets to see them would provide memeories for a lifetime.
The Pittsburgh Fanatic:
It’s easy to pick up a Steeler shirt almost anywhere, but how abou something more uniquely Pittsburgh? Check out 3 Rivers Clothing that has quite a few great pieces including sweatshirts, tees, and our very own Pittsburgh Music Magazine tee
. They also run Brand 216 
for those family members in Cleveland you don’t talk about while in SouthSide. LiveNow Streetwear has come out with their Pixburgh Realers Crewneck 
that is super cool (check out their new video here). And while we are on the clothing kick, we love Brandon’s stuff over at Pittsburgh based company Dead Bury Dead. The feel of a lived in tee with great designs, Dead Bury Dead 
has a great story and awesome products.
The Style Conscious:
The hottest trend today seems to be the monthly sample box from various companies. One of the coolest and also most economical to come out is BirchBox for Men, Women, and now Home. 
You can get 3, 6, or 12 month subscriptions and they will receive a box filled with samples of all sorts of goodies according to the types of products that most interest them. To really indulge someone check out Pittsburgh based Fluhme. 
Fluhme is a premiere cosmetics company dedicated to skin care.
The Impossible:
We all have that person on our list who is just impossible. Gift certificates seem to always please these unpleasable creatures, but to where? We would highly reccommend the Amazon gift certificate, Etsy Gift cards, and EBay has gift certificates. These sites seem to have something to please even those who have everything. For those a bit more adventurous try Design Tuscano 
for the home, Uncommon Goods has some very unique and unusual stuff
, and last but not least you can always get them a gift to just mess with their fickleness such as the 
LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp!
The Activist:
For some people a gift for them is just not appropriate, they would much rather you consider their activism for others. If you are not exactly sure, and not comfortable enough to ask, here are some suggestions:
The Human Rights Campaign, 
seeks to improve the lives of LGBT Americans by advocating for equal rights and benefits in the workplace, ensuring families are treated equally under the law and increasing public support among all Americans. They have some awesome giftwear as well as memberships that will show someones support for equality for all people. For the animal lover The ASPCA 
does so much for all animals that a contribution really does make a difference. They also have giftwear and collectibles besides membership. For those concerned with the environment, check out Conservation International 
who partners with governments on local, regional, and national levels around the world to deal with high priority areas of concern. From Brazil to China, from the U.S. to Liberia, they engage nations in a common goal — to preserve natural resources for the benefit of all life on Earth.
The Dog or Cat Lover:
For the dog lover in your life there is a membership box that they can receive holding goodies and toys according to the size of their fur babies. Bark Box 
is a welcome addition to the monthly box competition for your furry friends or your friends with dog kids. For those with cats in the mix Bestfriendbox
has something for both dogs and cats.
We hope that you got at least one or two ideas from our list, or at least some entertainment. Good luck with your holiday shopping and when you are not burning through your credit and debit cards Pittsburgh Music Magazine will be here to keep you up on the latest and greatest in music.