Fans Like You… But Still Don’t Buy? Here’s Why (and How to Fix It)

Have you ever wondered why people like your posts, comment fire emojis, share your reels—but still don’t buy your music, merch, or tickets? Here’s the truth: likes don’t equal loyalty. If you don’t fix this, your fanbase will never fund your future.

Ok. You've done the work. You've built emotional connections. People tell you your music is amazing. They even follow you, watch your Stories, repost your freestyles. But when it comes time to buy something—nothing happens.

That's because nobody told you the hard truth:

Connection isn't conversion. Attention isn't support.

What you built is interest. I take my hat off to you. But what you need is infrastructure. Without systems to guide people from "I like this" to "I bought this," they'll stay in that vague zone of passive fans forever.

Now, I know you have a dream to change the world and make an impact with your music, but you also want to make money, too, and I want to show you how to make that happen on this video.

When I was in my "organic content is better than paid ads" craze, I was just hinting at the principle that I'm talking about in this video. Artists and their teams get so gung-ho about running ads and increasing their followers that they forget they have to continue serving them once they've made it inside the restaurant — so they actually order and then ask for the check to pay. So how do you do this? Well, let's jump in!

Emotional Connection ≠ Buying Intent

Your catalog of music and your story are only solving emotional issues and resonating with a small group of people within that follower base. This is why it may be frustrating to you why your listeners don't seem to buy.

Aside from the fact that your music may or may not be good, I learned about this through polling you all over the years and cross-referencing it with my buying behaviors when it comes to music artists.

You have to mentally segment your audience into: Browsers (scrollers who like and dip), Supporters (that buy if guided), and Buyers (who are ready—if the offer is clear). If you don't separate them mentally, you'll think everyone is a potential buyer—and get discouraged when they don't convert.

Once you understand this, your whole entire fanbase will open up to you and things will start to become clear about the folks that are following you. This will change your perspective on your marketing strategy right about now!

So if you thought you needed some fancy tool, you don't—you just need to be aware of who and what type of people your entire fanbase is comprised of.

Give Fans a Buying Path

Once someone vibes with your music or your story, you need a clear next step for them to support you. That's not just a "link in bio"—that's an intentional funnel.

As an artist, you may think that people who follow you are just going to naturally go to Spotify and stream or click on the link in your bio. We don't care—we want to enjoy our entertainment on our timeline, and you're just a part of our entire entertainment experience. You have to make us do something.

For some reason, you still have the "if you build it, they will come" mentality. I regret to inform you this is not the case, and if you build it, only your mom or grandma will show up.

If you keep it up, your discouragement will get the best of you in roughly 90 days.

With you guys, when I started telling you what I had beneath each video in the description section, you investigated it. If it was for you, you purchased. If it wasn't, you didn't—or you tried to see if you could get a discount from me, which I don't offer.

So I want you to ask yourself:

Do I have a $5–$15 product for entry-level supporters? If you don't, you need to create one. Hint: we don't want music.

Do I have a reason they should care enough to buy? If you don't, you need to solve a problem for your follower base.

If you do: Have you told them why this product improves their life, mood, status, or gives them something they want? If you haven't, you just left all of your money on the table.

Once you do this, it will change your life. I don't know what else to tell you—you'll start making money so fast, and we haven't even gotten to step three.

If you think this is too salesy, it's not. You've just got to learn to tell a story about your product and you're in there because fans don't buy music. They buy meaning, connection, and identity.

Build Follow-Up Systems

Here's the part I wanted to get to ever since I mentioned the ads. I'm going to get off social media with this example, but when it comes to content, if I see your ad, come to your page and follow, and you don't continue to entertain me organically, you have a problem.

Even if someone loves you and sees your posts, they won't buy right away. That's where systems come in. You have to follow up and nurture these new followers and subscribers.

The real reason you're stuck at the follower stage is you don't understand that these people are ready to be nurtured like kindergarten students gazing up at a teacher reading them a story about "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

I nurture you all twice a week, as well as my community and my emails, which brings me to my follow-up list.

• Story-based content (BTS, Docu series footage keeps us entertained and engaged.)

• Email lists (automated follow-ups with offers + insight give us a peek under the hood)

• Community portals (Discord, IG Subscriptions keep us connected for real for real.)

• Reminders (comment triggers, pinned posts, and exclusives help us feel acknowledged)

This is what pushes people over the top. They buy when the offers that you present align with them.

I used to believe that I didn't need to do this stuff and that my videos served enough purpose, but when I started engaging with everyone and sending out the Music Money Minute, people started buying—no tricks — just a simple system.

You may think you need a lot of money to maintain this, but in reality, you just need to schedule time to make it happen. Because you want to be able to sustain yourself with these processes, take it one step at a time, and you'll be fine.

Here’s what you can do!

You can keep neglecting your fanbase, guessing and hoping their behaviors will change… or you can follow a system that’s already working. The real question isn’t ‘should you do this?’—it’s ‘how much longer can you afford NOT to?’ If you need help with understanding this method even more, join the Music Money Makers every Monday at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time as we talk about situations like this live. If you need a system to support all of this money you’re about to make, grab my 60 Day record label system as well.

But What If…

You might be thinking: "But what if my audience is different? What if they just want the music and nothing else?" The thing is—I've worked with hundreds of artists, and the pattern is always the same. Your real fans want more than just tracks—they want to be part of your journey. And this system gives them exactly that. You don’t need perfect conditions. You just need to start with what you’ve got — and watch how far that can take you.

What’s it going to cost to keep doing it your way

Look, every day you wait to implement a real fan conversion system costs you real opportunities. Not just potential sales—we're talking about:

1. Lost revenue from fans who would've bought if you'd just given them a clear path ($1000s per month in merch and tickets)

2. Wasted time and energy on content that isn't converting (countless hours that could've been spent creating)

3. The emotional toll of watching your numbers grow while your bank account doesn't (that hits different)

So what are you going to do?

At the End of the Day

The reality is, building a fanbase isn't just about getting people to like you—it's about creating a clear path for them to support you. You've got the tools now: understand your audience segments, build a clear buying path, and create follow-up systems that nurture relationships. The question isn't whether this works—it's whether you're ready to take your fan relationships to the next level.