Remember when music fans were truly more like fanatics? When it was a point of pride to know even the most reputedly unimportant bit of minutia about your fave bands? Like that The Talking Heads-the influential eighties conceptual rockers-met in 1976 while they were art scholars at the Rhode Island Faculty of Design in Providence. Or that the cult-leader-like front man of The Doors, Jim Morrison, is buried in eastern Paris. His gravesite-in the 6th Division, 2nd Row, Grave No. 5-is one of the busiest at the famous Pre Lachaise Cemetery. Hardcore disciples of Morrison and The Doors still routinely worship at the altar of his remains to have a toke and leave illicit tokens of admiration-that is, if you consider bodily emissions an indication of respect. Framed photos of this psychedelic pilgrimage adorn basements apartments of Door-iacs all across the globe.

And few of these idolizers would bat at an eye about paying a fee for mp3 downloads of some newly discovered bootleg of Morrison reciting his meandering scatological verse. Likewise, artsy admirers of David Byrne or The Talking| Heads are likely raring to shell out the money needed to download one of the innovative band's formerly not available and transformational videos.

Free mp3 downloads would, naturally, be nice. But paying for the perquisite to add to their Byrne's visual archive is definitely worth whatever the cost-and, much easier than scouring through bins of markdowns at nearly nonexistent LP sellers. These busy Gen X-ers can only travel to so many vintage record exchange conventions in Austin or, perhaps, Seattle per year. They'd much rather pull out some plastic and pay the price to download mp3s without delay and straight away to their portable or Blackberries.

Millennials however-the spoilt offspring of those much-mythologized Baby Boomers-have a totally varied opinion about free mp3 downloads, leaving their oldsters, still doleful at the mere mention of Woodstock, scratching their disillusioned heads en masse. Communal living they got; expecting musicians to give away their revolutionary licks online for free? Not so much. For today's younger and technologically-obsessed mp3 down loaders, band loyalty is just about non-existent. And illogical. What kind of chump would pay for something that any savvy surfer can get gratis? That would be like, well, like purchasing a complete album with just one cool song-stupid, right? Of course, Millennials practically cut their teeth to the beats of free mp3 downloads.

For them, they see the online freebies as advertising automobiles, as free exposure for bands that are not signed to major labels, or without access to normal promotional media-like radio or Television. And no-one actually listens to the radio any more anyhow. It's all about free mp3 downloads. There's tons of killer vids and shows to observe online. The way they see it, free mp3 downloads of music are great for the band and good for the fan. A win-win.

And when you remember that most mp3 downloads are of single songs by independent artists, what's the point of learning all that band trivia? Many of these artists have only a couple of songs anyhow. Besides most serial downloaders are constantly hunting for the following newer thing. Free mp3 downloads have created an altogether new generation of groups-and less-inspired listeners-akin to the aptly named dance band Flash and the Pan ironically spun by new waving DJs in the eighties. Oh, and FYI : the band was Australian and debuted "Walking in the Rain" on the 1st album (1983, for you few trivialities buffs ) -the song later on famous by the one and only Grace Grace Jones. That's one for the ages. Twenty-first century "One-Click Wonders" make a lot less of a flash and spend noticeably less time in the pan.