EXCLUSIVE
Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music stores across Australia after her recent concerts led to a spike in theft of them.
JB Hi-Fi, Australia’s largest music retailer, has taken a desperate measure to deter intrepid thieves who look at a CD and think: “You own me (without paying).”
Instead of where the pop star’s CDs would normally be kept, JB Hi-Fi at the Strand Arcade in Sydney’s Pitt St Mall has a blank space and four separate signs telling customers that only Swift albums are available behind the counter.
‘Taylor Swift CDs are kept behind the counter. Temporary. Please ask a staff member for help,” a sign reads, followed by a smiling face.
“It’s unfair that Swifties are being blamed for this,” one furious fan, Alison, from Coogee in Sydney’s east, told Daily Mail Australia.
Taylor Swift appears on stage at Accor Stadium, Sydney, Australia, during The Eras Tour.
Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music stores across Australia after her recent concerts led to a spike in theft of them. Pictured are two signs at a JB Hi-Fi outlet.
‘Most likely there are people trying to cash in on your recent tour and resell the CDs at a higher cost.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would be so difficult to buy a CD,” said the huge Swift fan.
Three of the four JB Hi-Fi posters are printed on pink paper, a color often used by Swifties, and the fourth poster, which is printed on green cardboard, features pink love hearts.
Alison, 25, said that the last time she was in a JB Hi-Fi store she had no problems finding Swift CDs and that this move is not good for the store’s reputation.
‘Don’t blame me and my fellow Swifties for the actions of some people who probably don’t even like their music.
‘JB Hi-Fi needs to calm down and put the CDs back on the shelf where they belong. Otherwise, simply put, we will not tolerate it.”
Alison couldn’t get a ticket to see Swift in Sydney, but she’s such a fan that she flew to see her in Melbourne.
“It was the best concert I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. ‘She played everything she wanted to hear.
“There will be bad blood between Swifties and JB Hi-Fi if they don’t fix this quickly.”
The global superstar earned rave reviews for her seven shows in Melbourne and Sydney, in which she changed costumes to represent different eras of her career for three and a half hours on stage.
More than 600,000 people attended the Australian leg of the mammoth world tour.
A record 96,000 fans attended each of her three nights in Melbourne and another 83,000 Swifties were at each of her four shows in Sydney.
JB Hi-Fi has been contacted for comment.
Pictured is the empty section where Taylor Swift CDs would normally be found.
Pictured is the CD cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album. At JB Hi-Fi, it is currently stored behind the counter.
Taylor Swift appears on stage in Sydney during her successful seven-date tour of Australia.
