Bethel Music, part of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif., has entered into an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Fuel Music & Management.

On June 1, the artist solutions company began representing both current and back catalog albums from Bethel Music. That includes 2012's For the Sake of the World and The Loft Sessions, as well as 2011's Be Lifted High—which features "Love Came Down." Written by Bethel Church Senior Worship Pastor Brian Johnson and worship leader Jeremy Riddle, the song was recently performed on American Idol by finalist Angie Miller.

Bethel Music's albums will be distributed to U.S. Christian stores by New Day Christian Distributors, while physical and digital retail sales in international Christian and general market stores will be handled by Fuel's distribution arm, Tonetree Music.

Bethel Music's first project under the partnership, a not-yet-titled album, is slated to be released in September.

"We love how Bethel's worship leaders continue to creatively push the boundaries of corporate worship while simultaneously inviting listeners to experience fresh encounters with God," said Fuel Music & Management President Tony Patoto. "We are excited to share this music with the global community of faith, inspiring the church to sing a new song."

Bethel Music Director Joel Taylor added: "The dedication and expertise of their team make them a dynamic partner to work with. God has been leading us on a journey of writing, recording and releasing fresh expressions of worship, and we are confident that Fuel will be an invaluable bridge to connect this music to individuals, churches and regions around the world."

Bethel Music previously had a marketing and distribution agreement with Kingsway.

Visit www.bethelmusic.com for more information.

Americans will spend slightly more on the most important men in their lives this Father's Day, Sunday, June 16.

"Never expecting more than a nice day out or a special family dinner, dads are usually easy to shop for," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "From patio sets and grills to ties and gardening tools, retailers will offer specials and promotions in the coming days for families as they scour retailers' websites and stores for something they know dad will love."

According to the survey, those celebrating Father's Day will spend $2.5 billion collectively on special outings such as a sporting event or dinner; $1.7 billion on electronic gadgets such as a tablet or GPS system; and $1.8 billion on clothing.

Others will shell out $1.8 billion on gift cards; $755 million on home improvement or gardening tools; $710 million on sporting goods; $707 million on personal care items; and $592 million on automotive accessories.

Four in 10 (40.6%) will look for dad's gift at department stores. Others will shop at discount stores (31.5%); specialty stores such as greeting card/gift and electronics stores (27.3%); and specialty clothing stores (9.9%). Online retailers will see a slight increase in traffic this year—29.8% will shop online, up from 28.4% last year.

More than half of those surveyed (53%) will buy for their father or stepfather this holiday, but others will treat their husband (29.1%), son (9.7%), brother (6.4%) and grandfather (4.9%) to something nice, according to the survey.

The International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) will feature several social-media sessions later this month. CBA's marquee summer event will be held June 23-26 at the America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis.

In the workshop "Marketing: Technology Tools and Trends," presenters Gunnar Simonsen and Chris Rainey will help retailers learn what technologies and social media their customers are using so that they can connect with consumers effectively. Simonsen, director of Potizo Solutions, and Rainey, formerly Kerusso's vice president of marketing, will share how smartphones, social media, e-marketing and store experience can come together to make stores stand out from the crowd. The workshop will be held 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 25.

Simonsen—formerly general manager of the Christian Supply Centers in the Pacific Northwest—is also conducting five social-media roundtables in the hospitality suite of Bridgestone Multimedia Group (BMG), in room #122 of the convention complex. Each free-of-charge roundtable will only have eight spots available.

The roundtables include: "Turn Your Smart Phone Into an Effective Marketing Tool," 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Monday, June 24; "Understanding Twitter (Unlocking Frozen Perceptions, Unlocking the Potential)," 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Monday, June 24 and 9 a.m.-10 a.m. Wednesday, June 26; and "Driving Facebook (Content, Community, Adspend)," 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday, June 24 and 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 26.

"I definitely think and hope these smaller roundtables can help connect retailers in a whole new way," Simonsen told Christian Retailing. "The seats are extremely limited, but it will give it a nice ratio of people to connect with. If two retailers came to this and walked away being better connected with each other, not based on common challenges, but rather common opportunities, that would be awesome."

Simonsen recently wrote an e-book called Strategistics: How to Architect Your Message for Viral Success.

"I believe to best drive success online, one must nurture relationships offline," he said. "If we can help that happen amidst whatever topics we plan to discuss, then I would very happy. Remember without the social in social media, media is just a monologue."

Visit gobmgsocialmedia.eventbrite.com for more information on the roundtables.

For more information on simonsen, visit www.GunnarSpeaks.com.

State attorneys general from across the nation joined retailers earlier this week in formally opposing a proposed, historic settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit regarding credit card swipe fees charged by Visa and MasterCard.

Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Target and Domino's Pizza opted out of the proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement by last month's deadline and filed formal objections for U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, N.Y., to consider, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. But Target and Macy's have filed a new lawsuit seeking damages.

The attorneys said the settlement's ban on future lawsuits concerning swipe fees and credit card rules would violate their authority to sue regarding actions that harm their states' citizens.

"As drafted, the settlement agreement opens the door for defendants to assert settlement releases against attorneys general or other law enforcement agencies in future law enforcement actions related to the payment card industry," said a brief filed June 4.

The brief was filed by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia and every state except New Jersey and Oregon signed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the document.

Visa, MasterCard and a group of card-issuing banks allegedly colluded since 2004 to fix the swipe fees merchants pay to process cards, the Star Tribune reported. The interchange fees average about 2% of every purchase at the register and total about $30 billion a year—a significant operating expense for retailers.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that the swipe fees drive up consumer costs by more than $250 annually per average household.

"[The settlement] fails to address the price fixing that harms merchants and their consumers," said NRF General Counsel Mallory Duncan. "It takes away retailers' legal rights to ever try again, and it offers virtually nothing in return."

The proposed settlement is regarded as the largest private antitrust class-action settlement in U.S. history, one that involves more than 7 million U.S. businesses—just about every entity that swiped a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card since 2004, the Star Tribune reported.

A new book from Concordia Publishing House (CPH) features an evangelistic outreach component using postcards and e-cards.

In What They Need to Hear, released last month, Minnesota pastor Klemet Preus shares the 91 letters he wrote to his dying father-in-law, Lloyd to help lead him to Christ. Through the letters, Lloyd became a Christian before his death at 92.

The short devotional-in-nature letters "can be used as a template" by readers to share their faith with a person who is questioning God and Christianity, Concordia officials said.

The book features two inspirational postcards in the back to send to people who "need to hear God's Word" and a website that offers free e-cards that can be emailed to non-Christians.

"It's hard to know exactly what a non-Christian needs to hear to help bring him or her closer to faith," said Scot Kinnaman, editor of What They Need to Hear. "This book provides 'case study-like' examples and helps demonstrate how objections and tough questions can ultimately be used to witness about Jesus Christ. It's a great place to find conversation starters—and biblical answers that will guide those conversations."

CPH is offering bulk discounts of at least 15% for more than 10 copies. Visit www.cph.org for more information.

A session promoting Christian content and digital publishing trends were major highlights for Christian publishers during the U.S. book world's biggest event, recently held in New York City.

Held May 29-June 1 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Book Expo America (BEA) drew about 20 Christian publishers, including Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Tyndale House Publishers, B&H Publishing Group, Baker Publishing Group, Barbour Publishing, Harvest House Publishers, Charisma Media, Moody Publishers, Regal Books/Gospel Light and Oasis Audio.

ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper told Christian Retailing that the organization developed an education program at BEA "promoting Christian content as a way to meet the needs of retailers' communities."

R.R. Bowker Senior Account Executive David Campbell presented consumer data, "which demonstrated that the majority of general trade consumers expressed an affiliation to Christianity," Kuyper said. "It also showed that those who bought Christian books spent more then the average shopper and did so in almost every other category of the store.

"Our panel of publishers talked about the best opportunities to connect with consumers through expanded offerings in key categories and promotional seasons," he added, noting the session drew more than 30 attendees. "It [went] very well according to the coordinator who reviewed the surveys shortly after the session. She has asked us to do another session next year."

BEA Education Director Sally Dedecker said expo officials are also working with ECPA on setting up a dedicated pavilion for its member publishers for next year's show.

Moody Publishers Publicity Manager Janis Backing said the highlight of BEA was a digital book presentation.

"It was very informative about the new trends in digital publishing—an area we are very interested in investing in and learning how we can apply it to our publishing plans," she said. "It seemed like the show was well-attended. People were positive about our new products, especially our growth in fiction titles, the increase in available titles in e-book format and the continuing growth in sales for print books."

Gospel Light Director of Trade Sales Ken Lorenz said he "made a lot of digital and e-book contacts" at BEA.

"The best part was contacts with the major digital people like Apple, Sony and Amazon," he said. "It is hard to have one-on-one conversations with these companies. It was very productive."

Forty percent of Americans have showroomed or tested a product in a store, but then purchased it online—most often from Amazon, according to a new poll.

The Harris Poll, which was released last month and surveyed 2,114 U.S. adults online, found that Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target were the most likely brick-and-mortar stores to get showroomed, with 23%, 21% and 12%, respectively, of showroomers choosing the stores to most frequently physically examine goods before buying online.

The poll revealed that Amazon was showroomers' dominant destination, with 57% identifying the online retailer as the go-to site for most of showrooming purchases.

"You've got to hand it to Amazon: they are truly a retail darling that knows how to deliver on customer expectations," said Harris Poll President Mike de Vere. "The company led the rankings in our annual Reputation Quotient study, as well as taking the E-Retailer Brand of the Year title in our annual Harris Poll EquiTrend Study. These results further stress the company's clout by displaying its ability to pluck customers right from their competitors' stores."

A majority of showroomers (57%) were more likely to make purchases in stores that have implemented permanent price-matching policies in order to compete with online retailers, the study found. Retailers can also benefit from allowing consumers to place orders online that can then be picked up in a physical store. Half of those surveyed have made purchases this way, and nearly all of those who have (93%) reported being satisfied.

Almost six in 10 showroomers with smartphones (59%) also preferred looking up product information on their phone versus asking a salesperson for help. Additionally, only 15% of consumers were willing to be charged for physically examining a product in a store before purchasing from an online retailer.

Visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom.aspx to read the poll results.