The 1920s was an era of mass production and mass
consumption that brought economic and industrial
development. The popularization of radios allowed people to listen to music at their leisure, but at the same time, many people did not have access to radios. These folks probably listened to the music coming from the storefronts.
“The “music store” was a place where people could listen to
the sounds of great music anywhere, but we must not forget that there were still many impoverished people in the metropolis who could not afford to listen to the music. The artist’s approach is to depict the scene of such a crowd
strolling in front of a music store in the evening, listening to
tantalizing music without paying a penny. I think this work is a masterpiece, both in terms of the arrangement of the
figures and the color tones.” (Noboru Fujioka, ” Independent Art Exhibition,” New York Shimpo, March 19, 1927)
