Caity Krone is a 20 year old singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. We first featured Caity in 2015, when she was promoting a track titled “Archipelago.” Since then, Caity’s released her debut single, Record About You, which was released last October and is now working on her debut LP release.
We asked Caity to be a part of our Women in Music series and discuss her personal and professional influences, how she supports other women in the industry, and her thoughts on inequality in the music industry.
Tell us about your experiences in the music industry and getting your start as an artist.
I’ve always really loved to sing. My mom has always loved artists like Fleetwood Mac and James Taylor, and when I think I started really digging into their archives, I knew I wanted to be that kind of artist. The way I feel when I listen to “Dreams” and “Silver Springs” is what keeps me pursuing music. If I can write a song that makes someone feel the way I feel when I listen to those songs, or write a song that makes me feel that way, that’s my definition of success.
What inspired or motivated you to become a musician?
I started writing my own music when I was fifteen after hearing Ed Sheeran’s + record. Seeing someone sort of have a modern and unique take on classic songwriters inspired me to do the same. But the music always sort of took after artists like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Fleetwood, Joni, that kind of stuff.
What advice or resources do you have to give to other female musicians?
I take all my friends’ press photos, and I’ve got this PDF that I spent six months making with loads of blog and local radio contact information for sending out your songs. Whenever my girlfriends release music I always send it to them and try to uplift their releases in any way that’s possible, same as they do for me. As for advice, I think the most valuable thing you can do as a woman is to be yourself fearlessly and unabashedly. Show up constantly, be persistent, and never let anyone stop you from creating. Be honest and authentic in your work and trust yourself. Go with your gut on everything. I also read a great piece of advice the other day, from Issa Rae I think. She said to focus on networking with people at the same level as you, focus on creating and meeting people who have the same hunger and drive you do, rather than trying to get meetings with people eight steps ahead of you. No one meeting will make or break your career. Don’t wait on anyone else to make things happen for you, you have to put in the work yourself.
Have you faced any hardships as a woman in your career?
A male with a good face who can sort of carry a tune will get 200,000 followers and a record deal before you see a real female genius getting the recognition they deserve. People don’t want to take you seriously, they want to push you around and place value on you based on your looks, followers, or based on how much you are like the top females in the industry. Moreover, I think people just expect women to be fans cheering on the heartthrob male, not skilled, talented, multifaceted geniuses they are. The other day my manager showed me a statistic that said the male to female music producer ratio is 49:1. Totally insane.
Maybe you can speak on the Times Up movement?
I think as long as we’re listening to and uplifting women of color and trans women as much as we are white women, it’s a good thing. It feels like there’s a systemic shift happening that my generation is lucky to be a part of. There’s no more “that’s just the way things are” in the industry. It’s mostly happening in the film and TV industry, but it’s way overdue in music, too. Women deserve to be in those high positions at companies across the music industry and producing Grammy winning records. A guy who’s a mediocre male by day and a predator by night doesn’t deserve to have a job, or be making a six figure salary at that.
