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CD of Early Taylor Swift Recordings Featuring Unreleased Originals and Dolly Parton, the Chicks Covers Sells For $12K

The CDR of some of the singer's earliest compositions features a phone number for any interested music execs.

Taylor Swift performs on stage during during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Anfield on June 13, 2024 in Liverpool, England.

Taylor Swift performs on stage during during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Anfield on June 13, 2024 in Liverpool, England.

Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

One of the earliest known CDs of Taylor Swift‘s songs sold at auction over the weekend for $12,505. According to Goldin Auctions, the disc — which features a picture of a tween Swift on it as well as a phone number, email address and website for interested music executives — was burned by the now mega-star when she was a modest, pre-fame sixth grader.

“At the age of 11, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to shop her demo around, with the demo containing cover songs of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks tunes,” reads a description of the contents; the latter country trio is now known as the Chicks. “All of which brings us to this hidden gem in our auction: an early, self-produced CD signed by Swift herself with a black marker.”


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The first song on the disc is the never-released “Am I Ready For Love” (written by Celina Berman-Gray), followed by a very early Swift-penned original, “Can I Go With You,” which she wrote with Greg McElrath. Elsewhere, she covers Olivia Newton-John’s Grease hit “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” the Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble” and Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again.”

Swift’s Eras Tour juggernaut continues its march across Europe this week with a show slated for tonight (June 18) at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, followed by a three-gig run at Wembley Stadium in London on June 21-23. In addition, the singer’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has just notched its eighth week at the top of the Billboard 200, extending her lead as the solo artist with the most weeks on top in the chart’s history.

Check out a picture of the disc below.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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Tim Leiweke photographed on April 28, 2023 at Oak View Group in Los Angeles.
Joel Barhamand

Tim Leiweke photographed on April 28, 2023 at Oak View Group in Los Angeles.

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Tim Leiweke to Step Down as OVG’s CEO After Being Criminally Indicted for Bid-Rigging

The government accuses Leiweke of orchestrating a "conspiracy to rig the bidding process" to win a contract to build and operate the Moody Center in Austin.

Tim Leiweke, one of the most accomplished CEOs in the live entertainment and facilities business, announced today that he is stepping down as CEO of Oak View Group (OVG) after being indicted by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division for bid-rigging related to the company’s 2017 contract to build the Moody Center Arena in Austin.

On Wednesday (July 9), a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas returned an indictment against Leiweke, alleging he orchestrated a “conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas.” Authorities say Leiweke conspired with the chief executive of Legends Hospitality to rig the bidding for the construction and management of Austin’s $338 million, 19,000-seat Moody Center.

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