Jenn Zed’s The Shape of Your Mouth Is Now Streaming Everywhere

[Open Arts Forum]

Open Arts Press is pleased to announce the release of The Shape of Your Mouth, the new album by @Jenn Zed, now available on all major streaming services. You can also listen to all of the songs by clicking play on the playlist below.



With The Shape of Your Mouth, Jenn delivers a set of songs based largely on her poetry published here on OAF. The songs are shaped by intimacy, atmosphere, memory, and desire. The album moves through longing, attachment, distance, and physical presence with a voice that is emotionally direct without being overstated. Its power comes less from grand gestures than from precision, restraint, and mood.

Across the album, Jenn continues to develop a distinctive sound world: sensual, melancholic, sometimes dreamlike, but grounded in strong melodic and emotional focus. The Shape of Your Mouth is concerned with what lingers—touch, speech, absence, the emotional charge carried by the body, and the traces another person leaves behind.

The album is now streaming on all major platforms.

We invite listeners to spend time with The Shape of Your Mouth and to share it with others who may connect with its sound and sensibility.

 

[Robert (Stastny)]

Very nice, am listening to The Smallest Light now, while writing this.

So basically OAF are going to play the role of distributor? That would be useful. Right now I'm getting some albums mastered by a producer friend + Landr. But I heard Landr's distribution services are straight up dishonest, making things intentionally complicated, being impossible to reach and then in the end making sure Landr's partners (Spotify et al) keep the money made by the music. Bravo @Jay Dougherty and @Jenn Zed of course (as this is something the two of you are kicking off, it seems) for filling that gap, giving it a go.

Congrats, Jenn. Using your poetry to develop an album is smart.

I'm enjoying the album.

 

[Jay Dougherty]

Very nice, am listening to The Smallest Light now, while writing this.

So basically OAF are going to play the role of distributor? That would be useful. Right now I'm getting some albums mastered by a producer friend + Landr. But I heard Landr's distribution services are straight up dishonest, making things intentionally complicated, being impossible to reach and then in the end making sure Landr's partners (Spotify et al) keep the money made by the music. Bravo @Jay Dougherty and @Jenn Zed of course (as this is something the two of you are kicking off, it seems) for filling that gap, giving it a go.

Congrats, Jenn. Using your poetry to develop an album is smart.

I'm enjoying the album.

Glad you like it. No, OAF is not distributor. Open Arts Press is the "label," so to speak. Distribution is a much larger deal, and I have no way of doing it. We're using DistroKid.

None of the distribution services are flawless from the creator standpoint, and they all cost money. But what are you going to do? People want something for nothing. Not going to happen. Distrokid does what we can't, and honestly it does it very well, so you pay the fee and move on.

Ultimately all of this arts-related stuff, from my viewpoint, has to generate enjoyment for the creator because 99% of the time it will not generate revenue that comes close to covering the costs of production and distribution. And it's very likely that it won't even cover that. Over the past 5 or 6 years, I've put out three albums with an original rock/punk group, and I think our total revenue from streaming has been in the neighborhood of $150. Of that, I have received $0, but we have had a couple of pizza luncheons together for which I did not pay.

So my mantra is: do it because it's fun, and only because it's fun, and don't expect anything else. If something else comes, great, but understand that putting in the work to make something else come will be greater than a full-time job, for sure, and once something is a job, it tends not to be so much fun anymore, in great part because it crowds out the creative spirit.

The good news is that creative work is enjoyable, especially when someone like you comes along and says they appreciate(d) it. So as creators, just enjoy it.

Thanks for the comments. Let us know how Landr works out.

 

[Trina Layne]

Glad you like it. No, OAF is not distributor. Open Arts Press is the "label," so to speak. Distribution is a much larger deal, and I have no way of doing it. We're using DistroKid.

None of the distribution services are flawless from the creator standpoint, and they all cost money. But what are you going to do? People want something for nothing. Not going to happen. Distrokid does what we can't, and honestly it does it very well, so you pay the fee and move on.

Ultimately all of this arts-related stuff, from my viewpoint, has to generate enjoyment for the creator because 99% of the time it will not generate revenue that comes close to covering the costs of production and distribution. And it's very likely that it won't even cover that. Over the past 5 or 6 years, I've put out three albums with an original rock/punk group, and I think our total revenue from streaming has been in the neighborhood of $150. Of that, I have received $0, but we have had a couple of pizza luncheons together for which I did not pay.

So my mantra is: do it because it's fun, and only because it's fun, and don't expect anything else. If something else comes, great, but understand that putting in the work to make something else come will be greater than a full-time job, for sure, and once something is a job, it tends not to be so much fun anymore, in great part because it crowds out the creative spirit.

The good news is that creative work is enjoyable, especially when someone like you comes along and says they appreciate(d) it. So as creators, just enjoy it.

Thanks for the comments. Let us know how Landr works out.

Yes. There has to be a strong element of enjoyment. Most of the money we (my husband and I) generate right now from arts-related stuff comes from paid live performances. Thinking about recording and distribution and all that jazz gives me headaches. You have to do your research. They are parasites out there.

 

[Robert (Stastny)]

Glad you like it. No, OAF is not distributor. Open Arts Press is the "label," so to speak. Distribution is a much larger deal, and I have no way of doing it. We're using DistroKid.

None of the distribution services are flawless from the creator standpoint, and they all cost money. But what are you going to do? People want something for nothing. Not going to happen. Distrokid does what we can't, and honestly it does it very well, so you pay the fee and move on.

Ultimately all of this arts-related stuff, from my viewpoint, has to generate enjoyment for the creator because 99% of the time it will not generate revenue that comes close to covering the costs of production and distribution. And it's very likely that it won't even cover that. Over the past 5 or 6 years, I've put out three albums with an original rock/punk group, and I think our total revenue from streaming has been in the neighborhood of $150. Of that, I have received $0, but we have had a couple of pizza luncheons together for which I did not pay.

So my mantra is: do it because it's fun, and only because it's fun, and don't expect anything else. If something else comes, great, but understand that putting in the work to make something else come will be greater than a full-time job, for sure, and once something is a job, it tends not to be so much fun anymore, in great part because it crowds out the creative spirit.

The good news is that creative work is enjoyable, especially when someone like you comes along and says they appreciate(d) it. So as creators, just enjoy it.

Thanks for the comments. Let us know how Landr works out.

Smart re Distrokid. There's a long Reddit chat about Landr Distribution and the consensus seems to say people prefer Distrokid (there isn't a slew of complaints re Distrokid).

But I'll follow up re the Landr master. A musician I did an EP with in 2012 is also a producer, with quite the studio today. We're helping each other out so he's using his Landr account to master mixes he'll first work on, for the album he and I did, and a couple other EPs.

Step by step is the only way ahead for me. Once I have the albums, I'll start by setting up a Bandcamp. And put that up here on OAF. And then see about next steps (like broader distribution). If my guy insists on using Landr Distribution I'll let you know how that goes.

 

[Robert (Stastny)]

Yes. There has to be a strong element of enjoyment. Most of the money we (my husband and I) generate right now from arts-related stuff comes from paid live performances. Thinking about recording and distribution and all that jazz gives me headaches. You have to do your research. They are parasites out there.

100%. And yes re Live performances (it's how recordings happened for me, the physical performance is very much something of it's own).

 

[Jay Dougherty]

Most of the money we (my husband and I) generate right now from arts-related stuff comes from paid live performances.

I'm glad you have that. Live is where it's at for much of the arts these days.