The biggest source of risk for a business is relying on a single source of revenue. That could be defined as a single customer, focusing on a single market, or communication using only one channel. Of course, the situation is obvious. If that single source goes away, you are left scrambling to recover.

This risk underlies my biggest concern with artists who use MySpace as their only online presence. There are millions of people on MySpace and the effort to build a MySpace page is minimal. This low barrier to entry and millions of participants creates quite an opportunity for bands to connect. But it is also creates quite a large amount of risk.

Let’s say, for instance, that MySpace decides to change something in their Terms of Service (TOS). The Terms of Service are the legal definitions and conditions that govern your use of MySpace. This change now blocks, or severely disrupts, your access to your friends. What would you do? For most bands, this would be disastrous. Why? Because they relied on a single communication channel.

With Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, and personalized websites, there are ample opportunities to open up additional channels. Not only does this reduce the risk on an individual method, but it also opens up new possibilities for finding fans. I’ve known several people who have left MySpace altogether and now spend their time in Facebook.

How many of your fans have done the same?