Big Beat Records, Inc. is an American electronic and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

record label, owned by

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

and operates through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. It was founded as an independent record label in 1986 by Craig Kallman with an emphasis on

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

, and later

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

. It was absorbed into Atlantic Records in 1998, and eventually relaunched separately in 2010 as a primarily electronic music label. Its current roster includes 100 gecs, Dog Blood, Galantis,

Whethan Ethan Snoreck (born May 25, 1999), better known by his stage name Whethan (formerly Wheathin), is an American DJ and music producer from Chicago. He gained recognition after his 2022 single "Lock It Up (Whethan song), Lock It Up," and the remix ...

, Cash Cash, and

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit is an English electronic music group formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have achieved four number-one singles and six additional top-ten songs on the UK Official Singles Chart. Since 2016, the group has been a trio comprising foundi ...

History

1987–1998: Original Big Beat

The first iteration of Big Beat was founded as an

Independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

in 1986 by Craig Kallman who was, at the time, a 20-year-old deejay in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The company initially operated out of Kallman's bedroom where he recorded the label's first track, "Join Hands" by Taravhonty, which sold 5,000 copies largely through direct promotion at record stores by Kallman himself. The second record Kallman recorded in his bedroom studio was titled "The Party" by Kraze which would go on to sell 250,000 units in the United States and internationally. Soon after, Kallman began focusing on developing the record label, signing acts like Tara Kemp and Jomanda over the following three years. He would sell Kemp's contract to

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

in 1991. Also that year, Jomanda released a record entitled "

Got a Love for You "Got a Love for You" is a song recorded by American vocal trio Jomanda for their debut studio album, ''Someone to Love Me'' (1990). It was released as a single in 1991 and hit number one on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart for one wee ...

" on Big Beat which attracted the attention of

Doug Morris Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938) is an American record executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011, as well as Sony Music Entertainment from 2011 to 2017. He is the founder and CEO ...

, the co-chairman of Atlantic Records at the time. Atlantic acquired Big Beat and made Kallman the Vice President of A&R while he still operated Big Beat. As the 1990s escalated, the label's roster shifted from primarily house music to more

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

. Big Beat signed a variety of artists including Mad Skillz, Changing Faces, Robin S.,

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

, Junior M.A.F.I.A.,

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

(both via the company's Undeas imprint), Artifacts, Art n' Soul, Double X Posse, Kenny Dope, Dawn Penn, Marshall Jefferson, Todd Terry, Quad City DJs, Percee P, and numerous others. In 1997, the label signed rapper

. In September 1998, the label released Fat Joe's third studio album '' Don Cartagena''. The album was top 10 on the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

'', and was certified gold by the RIAA. That same year, the label and its roster were absorbed into Atlantic Records. In 2001, an attempt to relaunch Big Beat was planned, but ultimately abandoned.

2010–present: Relaunch

Big Beat was relaunched under Atlantic Records as a dance-focused label in 2010. Artists on the label at the time of the relaunch included

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

, Chromeo, Wynter Gordon, Martin Solveig, Teddybears, and others. The relaunched label's first hit came in 2010 with Wynter Gordon's " Dirty Talk" which reached #1 on the ARIA singles chart and the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart and was certified triple platinum in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Martin Solveig's song "

Hello Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich Cou ...

," which was released in 2011 in the United States, peaked at #46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and at #1 on the Dance Club Songs chart while also achieving Platinum status from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Skrillex's '' Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites'' EP, released in 2010, effectively charted the label's trajectory toward electronic music. The EP sold hundreds of thousands of copies and its

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

sold over 2 million copies and appeared on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. At the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, the EP was named the

Best Dance/Electronic Album The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — honor quality dance music, dance and electronica albums in any given year. The award was first presented ...

and its title track won Best Dance Recording. The following year at the

55th Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

, Skrillex again won Best Dance/Electronic Album for his '' Bangarang'' EP along with Best Dance Recording for the EP's

which featured Sirah. He also won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his and

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

's remix of the Nero song, " Promises". In 2013, Big Beat signed Icona Pop, a Swedish electropop duo that would go on to release the 4× Platinum " I Love It" featuring

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

. The label also signed Cash Cash—whose 2013 single, " Take Me Home" featuring Bebe Rexha, was certified Platinum— and Galantis around that time. In December 2013, Big Beat's parent company, Warner Music Group, acquired

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

(a German-British record label). As part of the terms of the deal,

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

was added to Big Beat's roster. In 2014,

released its album, '' New Eyes'', on Big Beat. The lead single from the album, " Rather Be" featuring Jess Glynne, won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015. Liz Miller, Big Beat's General Manager in 2014, was named one of the "50 Most Important People in EDM" by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. In November 2014, David Guetta's first album with Big Beat, '' Listen'', was released featuring the eventual double-platinum lead single " Hey Mama" featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

, Bebe Rexha, and

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), known professionally as Afrojack (stylized in all caps), is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''Forget the World ( ...

. In 2015, Skrillex released a collaborative album with

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

entitled '' Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü''. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, the album won the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. Its lead single, " Where Are Ü Now" featuring

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

, won for Best Dance Recording. Galantis' 2016 single, " No Money" amassed nearly 700 million streams globally and charted on the Hot 100, Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and numerous other charts throughout the world. In 2017, Big Beat executives, Craig Kallman and Gina Tucci, were listed among ''Billboard''s list of "Dance Power Players." Big Beat label mates Skrillex and David Guetta were also on the list. Also in 2017, ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' nominated Big Beat for the label of the decade.

Current roster

References

External links