{
  "slug": "john-cage",
  "name": "John Cage",
  "description": "John Cage appears 2 times in our Modernism and Musique Concrète lists, placing as high as No. 3. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-30",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/john-cage/",
  "appearanceCount": 2,
  "distinctRecordings": 2,
  "years": {
    "first": 1952,
    "last": 1952
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 3,
    "list": "Modernism"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "modernism",
      "name": "Modernism",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/modernism/",
      "entries": 1
    },
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "musique-concrete",
      "name": "Musique Concrète",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/musique-concrete/",
      "entries": 1
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "john-cage--433",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/john-cage--433/",
      "title": "4'33\"",
      "year": 1952,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Four minutes and thirty-three seconds in which the performer plays nothing and the room becomes the piece. Endlessly mocked, and every field recording and ambient record since is standing on it.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/John%20Cage%204'33%22",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 3,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "modernism",
        "name": "Modernism",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/modernism/"
      },
      "artist": "John Cage"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "john-cage--williams-mix",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/john-cage--williams-mix/",
      "title": "Williams Mix",
      "year": 1952,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Six hundred recordings spliced according to chance operations, taking a year to cut for four minutes of tape. Cage's most laborious piece and his most gleefully pointless.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/John%20Cage%20Williams%20Mix",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ApQap2o2Tbw",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 5,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "musique-concrete",
        "name": "Musique Concrète",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/musique-concrete/"
      },
      "artist": "John Cage"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}