Mariah Carey Demo Tape Wax Poetics Auction: Details, Price, Listing

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A rare Mariah Carey demo tape is going up for auction next month, through the music magazine and merch site, Wax Poetics.

The cassette tape is believed to be one of Carey’s original demos, personally handed to legendary producer Arthur Baker by the star during a party in New York more than 35 years ago. Now, the same tape will be available to the highest bidder beginning on December 2, with the auction live on WaxPoetics.com.

According to Baker, his serendipitous run-in with Carey happened during a Christmas party in Manhattan, when the then-19-year-old was working as a backup singer for dance-pop artist Brenda K. Starr. Baker says the tape featured a couple of covers, as well as a handful of “raw” original songs Carey had written and recorded herself. Upon hearing the tracks, Baker says he knew he was discovering a “once-in-a-generation talent.”

“When I put the tape on, I heard the first few tracks and they were clearly all going to be hits,” Baker tells Rolling Stone. “You could tell straight away she was going to be a star.”

Of course, fans know the demo tape eventually made its way into the hands of Columbia Records CEO Tommy Mottola, who signed Carey to her first record deal, kickstarting her now-illustrious career.

In her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” the singer recalled how she desperately saved up money and bartered studio time to put her songs on tape. Many of the songs on her original demo, recorded with Ben Margulies in New York, ended up appearing on her self-titled debut album. Among those tracks: lead single, “Vision of Love;” the singer’s third number-one hit, “Someday;” and the emotional ballad, “Alone in Love,” which was reportedly one of the first songs Carey ever wrote.

Baker says the cassette tape also includes early, unreleased recordings, as well as songs Carey recorded with Starr. Still, the producer says Carey’s voice and talent was front and center the whole time. “She was locked into what was happening at the time,” he says. “Her voice still stands out, and the songs still stand out. Some songs have aged incredibly well. It still sounds incredibly fresh. She was a star even back then, and she’ll always continue to be a star.”

Wax Poetics CEO Alex Bruh calls Carey’s demo tape “one of the most sought after items we have come across,” and the site expects the tape to fetch as much as $20,000 at auction. “It captures the exact moment an era-defining artist was emerging, before the world knew her name,” Bruh says.

The auction will include the tape along with a verified certificate of authenticity, archival notes, and historical context from Baker’s collection and the Wax Poetics archive team.

Though he’s had it in his possession for almost four decades, Baker says he’s parting with the tape to help fund some upcoming projects, including a documentary film about the song, “Walking on Sunshine” as well as a personal memoir and podcast.

The Mariah Carey demo tape auction opens on December 2 at 3 p.m. ET and will be live until December 11. See more details here.

As for Baker, the producer says he has never forgotten Carey’s voice and songwriting prowess, adding that he’s honored to have seen “her pure talent and her focus” first-hand. “To be a star, and especially to maintain it for this long, you need to have that killer instinct,” he says, “and Mariah Carey has got it.”