An independent record label. Once an off-shoot of City Beat Records, which was owned by Beggars Banquet Records (now Beggars Group), XL was managed by Tim Palmer (7) and Nick Halkes and launched with Richard Russell in 1989 to release rave and dance music. XL superseded City Beat in Beggars Group's line up of labels. XL is managed by Richard Russell and his team. XL Recordings' younger partner label is Young (5) (formerly Young Turks). This was also the copyright-holder of XL releases prior to the company legally incorporating in 1996.

Employees included Leah Riches, [a6001996] and [a60243] (A&R).
Current employees include William Aspden.

See also the [r=154565] compilation of early XL singles on American Recordings.
In Autumn 2004, XL Recordings launched their XLXV series of re-issues to mark their 15th anniversary.

Label Code: LC 05667 / LC 5667

Name variation as it appears on one or more releases:
- XL-Recordings