Chris Cronk

Chris Cronk — American musician — works in the independent metal circuit of the United States. American metal from the 2000s onwards organised itself almost entirely autonomously. As the genre lost ground in the conventional market, a parallel infrastructure developed: affordable studios, direct digital distribution and a regional live circuit operating without large intermediaries. That autonomy changed the profile of the genre's professional musician. Besides playing, one has to record, mix, manage promotion, book shows and run the operation — functions once belonging to label, producer and manager, and which now fall on the band itself. The effect is ambiguous. On one hand it produced an unprecedented quantity of music and removed the barriers that once decided who could record. On the other it diluted the possibility of making a living from the genre, since revenue is spread across a far larger number of artists.