Editing USB flash drive (section)

===Media storage and marketing===
[[File:Wizo USB Stick.jpg|thumb|The German band [[Wizo]]'s ''Stick EP'', released in 2004, was the first album released on a USB stick.]]
[[Digital audio]] [[Audio file formats|files]] can be transported from one computer to another like any other file, and played on a compatible [[media player (application software)|media player]] (with caveats for [[Digital rights management|DRM]]-locked files). In addition, many home [[Hi-Fi]] and [[car audio|car stereo head units]] are now equipped with a USB port. This allows a USB flash drive containing media files in a variety of formats to be played directly on devices which support the format. Some LCD monitors for consumer HDTV viewing have a dedicated USB port through which music and video files can also be played without use of a personal computer.

Artists have sold or given away USB flash drives, with the first instance believed to be in 2004 when the German punk band [[Wizo]] released the ''Stick EP'', only as a USB drive. In addition to five high-[[bitrate]] [[MP3]]s, it also included a video, pictures, lyrics, and [[tablature|guitar tablature]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/vorbespielter-usb-stick-musik-zum-loeschen-a-321682.html |title=Vorbespielter USB-Stick: Musik zum Löschen |last1=Patalong |first1=Frank |date=2004-10-06 |website=[[Spiegel Online]] |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] |access-date=2014-06-26 |language=de |archive-date=2015-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709171002/http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/vorbespielter-usb-stick-musik-zum-loeschen-a-321682.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequently, artists including [[Year Zero (album)#Promotion|Nine Inch Nails]] and [[X (Kylie Minogue album)|Kylie Minogue]]<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/X-USB-Kylie-Minogue/dp/B000YVCQZW X (USB): Kylie Minogue: Amazon.co.uk: Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118213009/https://www.amazon.co.uk/X-USB-Kylie-Minogue/dp/B000YVCQZW |date=2018-11-18 }}. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-05-18.</ref> have released music and promotional material on USB flash drives. The first USB album to be released in the UK was ''[[Kiss Does... Rave]]'', a [[compilation album]] released by the [[Kiss Network]] in April 2007.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/albums-arrive-on-usb-format/035620|title=Albums arrive on USB format|date=23 April 2007|magazine=[[Music Week]]|issn=0265-1548|oclc=60620772|access-date=8 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908105902/http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/albums-arrive-on-usb-format/035620|archive-date=8 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>