Phew, Black Friday 2022 has been and gone, but happily the vast majority of hot deals are still live. We've scoured the wires for all the best deals on music gear and assembled them for you right here in one place.
So, whether you're a drummer, guitarist, DJ, producer, podcaster or any other type of content creator, you’ve come to the right place for music-related bargains. Check out the hot deals below and get ready for our Cyber Monday music deals extravaganza, when a torrent of new reductions are likely to be revealed. You'll find them here first!
Jump straight to the deals you want...
1. Today's top deals
2. Software deals
3. Guitar deals
4. Guitar amp deals
5. Guitar pedal deals
6. Keyboard, piano & synth deals
7. Drum machine deals
8. Drum deals
9. Microphone deals
10. Headphones deals
11. Interface deals
12. Studio monitor deals
13. Recording bundle deals
14. Mixer deals
If you're in the mood for a bargain and want to know where to hunt, we'd recommend checking-out the still-live official Black Friday sale over at Guitar Center where there are big discounts available on everything from guitars and electronic drums, to recording gear and software. And Musician's Friend's Black Friday sale rumbles on too, with up to 50% off a range of music gear. If you're in the UK or Europe, Thomann's massive Cyber Week sale is alive and kicking, with up to 60% off hardware and up to 80% off software. Also in the UK, there are insane discounts on guitar gear and beyond at Andertons.
For the uninitiated, Black Friday is an event where the biggest music shops and brands on the planet get busy dropping fantastic deals and discounts on music gear. Whether you're a guitarist, producer, DJ, drummer, or podcaster, this is the time to invest in your rig.
The sheer volume of Black Friday musical instrument deals can be overwhelming, so we're on hand to help arm you with all the latest info you need to get your hands on a dream electric guitar, invest in a new electronic drum set, score yourself a new laptop for music production or pick up some plugins to supercharge your next musical project.
Black Friday music deals: Quick links
- Amazon: Shop Cyber Monday deals on guitars, mics & more
- Andertons: Insane discounts on guitars, drums, keyboards, tech & more
- Antares: Up to 75% off Auto-Tune plugins
- Fender Play: Save 50% on an annual guitar lessons subscription
- Guitar Center: Shop the official Black Friday sale
- IK Multimedia: Save up to 85% on Max bundles
- Loopcloud: Try for two months for just £/$2
- Musician's Friend: Up to 50% off a huge range of music gear
- Native Instruments: Up to 75% off in their best Cyber Sale ever
- Plugin Boutique: Save big on plugins from SoundToys, iZotope, SSL and more
- Positive Grid: Huge Black Friday savings on BIAS and Spark
- Sweetwater: Save big money in their official Black Friday sale
- Thomann: The Cyber Week sale is here, with up to 60% off gear
- Waves: Shop the official Black Friday sale - plugins from $5.99
Black Friday Music deals: Top deals
Black Friday Music deals: Software deals
Black Friday Music deals: Guitar deals
Black Friday Music deals: Guitar amp deals
Black Friday Music deals: Guitar pedal deals
Black Friday Music deals: Keyboard, piano and synth deals
Black Friday Music deals: Drum machine deals
Black Friday Music deals: Drum deals
Black Friday Music deals: Headphones deals
Black Friday Music deals: Interface deals
Black Friday Music deals: Studio monitor deals
Black Friday Music deals: Recording bundle deals
Black Friday Music deals: Mixer deals
When will the Black Friday music deals land?
For 2022, the Black Friday music deals will officially arrive on Friday, November 25 - the day after Thanksgiving and less than a month before Christmas Day, making it the ideal event to pick up Christmas pressies for the music makers in your life. As usual, the deals will extend across that weekend (also know as Cyber Weekend), before finishing with a final flurry of Cyber Monday music deals on Monday 28 November.
Previous experience tells us that the deals aren't isolated to this concentrated four day period though. Many of the best Black Friday music deals will emerge in the weeks leading up to the big day, some as early as mid-October. And many deals stick around well after the event and into December.
Deals are launched at all sorts of random times – sometimes in the middle of the night – so savvy shoppers will need to keep a close eye on their favourite retailers to ensure they grab the bargains they're after. Some Black Friday music deals may stick around for the whole of Cyber Weekend, while others may only be live for a matter of hours, or could be stock-limited. So, if you're looking for a bargain, you need to be ready to pull the trigger.
What Black Friday music deals should I expect?
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the big music retailers throughout October and November. Based on last year's evidence, the Guitar Center Black Friday deals, Sweetwater Black Friday sales, and Musician's Friend Black Friday deals will be the places for acoustic and electric guitars, amps, home recording gear, and electronic drum sets.
When it comes to laptops for music production, this time of year is a great opportunity to pick up a Black Friday laptop deal for the home studio. Last year we spotted discounts on the newly-launched M1 MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs - mostly via Amazon - plus significant money off Dell laptops and older model MacBooks. Keep an eye on our MacBook Pro M1 deals page for the latest big ticket discounts. We're confident this year will be the ideal time to grab a top deal on your next laptop.
If you're a sucker for software, we're excited to see what the likes of Waves Audio and Plugin Boutique deliver across the event. Last year, some of the biggest offers included crazy discounts on the biggest names in software. You'll want to keep a close eye on our Black Friday plugin deals page for the very best offers this year.
For drummers itching to pick up one of the best electronic drum sets around, we’re looking forward to seeing price-slashing on some of the year's most popular models, including the new Roland TD-07 range and potentially Yamaha's new DTX series drums. Yamaha doesn't often do e-kit discounts through, so this may be wishful thinking. The Alesis Nitro Mesh e-kit has been a big winner when it comes to Black Friday drum deals, with the beginner electronic drum set seeing discounts of up to $50, plus bundle packages available over the last couple of years.
The Amazon and Walmart Black Friday sales will be massive as always, too. Here you'll be able to pick up everything from cheap wireless headphones and Amazon Echo devices, to top music gear – we’ll be bringing you the best deals we can find across these events.
We've been covering the Black Friday music deals for years now, so you can rest assured our teams will be hunting down the best offers before anyone else and sharing them with you first.
Black Friday music deals: will there be stock issues?
The news headlines tell us that this Christmas it will be harder to get hold of stock due to a shortage of components - particularly when it comes to digital products that require chips - and it may also be harder to get product delivered due to a lack of HGV drivers, particularly in the UK and Europe.
While the situation will be different for every individual brand and retailer, and some scaremongering needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, our advice would be that if you spot a great deal on something you've had your eye on for a while, to pick it up there and then. Stock may be limited and you don't want to miss out.
Taking into account potential delivery delays, we'd also recommend ordering as early as you can to avoid the risk of the item not arriving on time as we get closer to Christmas. Experience of previous years tells us that Black Friday music deals will start dropping far earlier than the day itself, so you may be able to bag a bargain well in advance and avoid any potential disappointment.
Black Friday music deals: Discounts and coupons
The Black Friday music deals aren't all about individual product discounts. Some retailers prefer to offer discounts overall on a range of product categories. Usually this comes in the form of a code that you enter at checkout to redeem your discount.
To give you an example, last year Sweetwater was offering up to 70% off a range of guitars, drums, recording gear, software, headphones and so much more from the big brands. Elsewhere, Guitar Center and Musician's Friend were both offering 15% off select products.
This is a great way to shop and can end up saving you more when you have multiple items you're looking to purchase.
How to prepare for the Black Friday music sales
If you really want to win big when the Black Friday music deals start flowing, our biggest tip would be to get your research done early, so you know exactly what you're looking for once it's time to strike.
The good news is that we can help you with that...
To help you create your dream shopping list, take the time to explore our expert and up-to-date buying guides and reviews. These will arm you with everything you need to know about buying the best audio interface, acoustic guitar strings, guitar tuners and so much more.
What else can I buy during Black Friday 2022?
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
That's a pretty huge question. It would be far easier to list the things you can't buy on Black Friday. You’ll find loads of bargains on great tech like noise-cancelling headphones, iPads and Amazon Echos – and you can even pick up groceries, pet food and dishwasher tablets – but it’s the Black Friday music deals we’ll be looking out for.
Black Friday music deals: what happened last year?
Last year's Black Friday music deals were off the chain, but we're hoping to see even bigger offers this year. In terms of last year's highlights, laptops and iPads - and in particular MacBook Pros - were available with silly discounts. Here are a few more offers from last year to give you a flavour of what you can expect from the 2022 Black Friday music deals.
Find more epic deals on a range of music gear below
- View our guide to the best Black Friday guitar deals
- Or all the early Black Friday drum deals
- Save money with the latest Black Friday plugin deals
- These are the best Musicians Friend Black Friday deals
- See what Guitar Center Black Friday deals are available this year
- In the UK/Europe? Check out the best Thomann Black Friday deals
- Score a cut-price interface with these Black Friday audio interface deals
- Bag a discount on the biggest brands with these Black Friday Andertons deals
- Make sure you're heard loud and clear with these Black Friday microphone deals