When you're talking about funding creative work, "fans" are people who would be excited about hearin

When you're talking about funding creative work, "fans" are people who would be excited about hearing a creator of some kind speak, for example: a film director. Regular people just want to see the movie. A lot of people describe themselves as "fans" but in terms of thinking about an ecosystem of artwork, they aren't really.

Fans are ones who want to interact or understand the creator better.

Most people don't really want to. They just want to switch on the radio and hear "Born to Run."

This is important because, in terms of building an ecosystem around a kind of artwork to support it, "fans" will respond to calls to action from creators. Regular people won't even hear the calls to action. They'll only consumer the work they like and ignore the broader interest of the creative community and individuals that made the content possible.