Big Beat Records Inc. is an American electronic and dance music record label, owned by Warner Music Group and operates through Atlantic Records. It was founded as an independent record label in 1986 by Craig Kallman with an emphasis on house music and later hip hop. It was absorbed into Atlantic Records in 1992 and eventually relaunched separately in 2010 as a primarily electronic music label. Its current roster includes 100 gecs, Dog Blood, Galantis, Whethan, Cash Cash, and Clean Bandit.

The first iteration of Big Beat was founded as an Independent record label in 1986 by Craig Kallman who was, at the time, a 20-year-old deejay in New York City. 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 1991. Also that year, Jomanda released a record entitled "Got a Love for You" on Big Beat which attracted the attention of Doug Morris, 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. Big Beat signed a variety of artists including Mad Skillz, Changing Faces, Robin S., Fat Joe, Junior M.A.F.I.A. X Change, Lil' Kim (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 Fat Joe.

In September 1998, the label released Fat Joe's third studio album Don Cartagena. The album was top 10 on the Billboard 200, 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.

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, 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 Dance Club Songs chart and was certified triple platinum in Australia. Martin Solveig's song "Hello," 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.

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 sold over 2 million copies and appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, the EP was named the Best Dance/Electronic Album and its title track won Best Dance Recording. The following year at the 55th Grammy Awards, Skrillex again won Best Dance/Electronic Album for his Bangarang EP along with Best Dance Recording for the EP's title track which featured Sirah. He also won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his and Nero's remix of the Nero song, "Promises".