Taylor Swift arrives at an award ceremony.

Taylor Swift fans have been “freaking out” after the singer surprised independent record shops with signed copies of her new album, Folklore.

Swift sent stores in the US signed CDs of her latest record, which dropped out of the blue last month.

Folklore features collaborations with Bon Iver and The National’s Aaron Dessner. It has spent three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK charts.

The owner of Wisconsin shop Strictly Discs, Angie Roloff, told Billboard: “Yesterday, I got an email from our Universal rep that we were one of the stores that had been chosen to receive 30 autographed Taylor Swift CDs.

 A fan shares a picture on Twitter of the signed 'Folklore' CD. 

“We weren’t permitted to talk about it until the CDs were in hand, and then we could post socially about it so folks could come and find us. And the other requirement was it has to be just local customers, not just shipping them to people outside of our immediate area. So today has been the day of Taylor Swift frenzy, which was actually quite fun.”

All 30 of the store’s CDs sold out within 40 minutes.

“I GOT A SIGNED CD!!!! My mom and I are on vacation in Nashville and we COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!!!!” tweeted one fan.

“Taylor Swift did a wonderful thing today,” wrote another. “She sent signed Folklore CDs to struggling indie music shops all across the country with no charge. I managed to get one, album of the year for me.”

A third said: “After freaking out and calling every record store that’s within a drivable distance, my cousin that lives STATES away was able to pick me up one from her local record store. i can’t wait to get my signed Folklore cd!!”

The Independent