In case no one's noticed, people don't buy records or CDs anymore – or certainly not in the multi-millions fashion of days gone by. The once-mighty major label cartels have slowly decomposed to ghost companies. Tumbleweeds roll through skyscraper corridors void of power, and the skeletons of A&R men are slumped over their dusty desks, bony fingers still clutching rolled up hundred-dollar bills where, once, white-pink piles of Peruvian dream-flake sat in plump piles of payola-fueled excess.

Okay, maybe it's not that extreme. But, yes, downloading and streaming and the DIY indie ethic have drastically altered the platform of the Music Biz.

One intriguing aspect about today's scene is there are still bands who WERE signed in that final wave of major label glory – artists whose catalogs still exist and are still beholden to groups like SONY, Universal or EMI.

For a decade starting in 2000, alterna-grungers 3 Doors Down, who perform tonight with Seether in the Mohegan Sun Arena, released five multi-platinum albums for Republic and Universal and enjoyed huge, arena-filling success. Originally, the band comprised vocalist Brad Arnold, drummer Daniel Adair, bassist Todd Harrell and guitarists Matt Roberts and Chris Henderson.

After 3 Doors Down's 2011 "Time of My Life" CD and subsequent tour, though, ongoing off- and onstage personnel issues slowed momentum and eventually necessitated changes. Now, along with Henderson and Arnold, the band includes drummer Greg Upchurch, guitarist Chet Roberts and bassist Justin Biltonen.

The new roster has done both electric and acoustic tours and returned to the studio to start work on an album, scheduled for a fall release, titled "Us and the Night."

Recently, during a phone conversation, Henderson discussed 3 Doors Down's long career and transitions. Here are excerpts from that conversation.

In the 2011 song "When You're Young," there was a decidedly melancholy tone reflecting perhaps inevitable changes in any long-term act's membership or direction. Now that song's already four years old – and does its original impetus resonate even more?

"You know, that song is definitely an accurate reflection of what was happening. If you timeline the song and the band, there were a lot of big changes coming. We could all feel it but we didn't know what they were or how it would all work out. A situation like that evoked a lot of emotion, and of course that's what you write songs about."

On the result of those changes:

"Well, we've got Justin, Chet and Greg in the band, and we've toured and we've written and we're recording. They've brought a lot of new energy and flavor to what we're doing, and the writing is different and I think fans will find it exciting."

On the difference between being a major label band and the download generation exemplified by younger indie acts:

"I think there was a relationship between major label bands and their fans that maybe you don't see anymore. We were part of the last generation that sold records and built our fan base touring rather than through YouTube videos. When you get fans the way we did, they grow up with you and stick with you. They allow the songs to be part of their lives forever. Today, it seems there are a lot more flashes in the pan. It's the downloading age and yesterday comes really quickly. The new breed, though, will learn and evolve. It always happens."

The band has always written material on acoustic guitars and then arranged them for electric instrumentation. Since they've actually done an acoustic tour and explored different arrangements and nuances, have things changed in the recording of the new album?

"It makes perfect sense to ask that, but no (laughs). Because, yeah, we always did write first on acoustic and then went to electric. What is different, though, for people who saw the acoustic tour, is that they saw how the songs were way back in the garage. The evolved versions that they associate with the records can be quite a bit different. If you listen to the acoustic version of the chorus on 'Kryptonite,' for example, it's got a very different feel. And the whole acoustic tour was great for those reasons and beyond. We actually stopped between songs and would have these conversations with the audience and walk them through how the songs were written and built. I already miss that aspect, but we're definitely going to do another acoustic tour. We might tour doing both."

3 Doors Down, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Mohegan Sun Arena; $30; 1-888-664-3426.