The label's first release was the compilation album Someone Got Their Head Kicked In!, showcasing a number of Los Angeles punk rock acts.

This was followed by Youth Brigade's debut album Sound & Fury, released in limited numbers and re-recorded the following year with a different track list.

During the punk rock revival of the 1990s BYO released albums by Jughead's Revenge, The Bouncing Souls, Automatic 7, Hepcat, 22 Jacks, Terrorgruppe, Pezz, Jon Cougar Concentration Camp, and others.

Since 2000 BYO has released albums by Pistol Grip, Manic Hispanic, Filthy Thieving Bastards, The Unseen, Sixer, One Man Army, Consumed, Throw Rag, The Business, The Briefs, Clit 45, A Global Threat, Wednesday Night Heroes, and others.

In 2009 the label celebrated its (approximate) 25th anniversary with the release of Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records, a box set chronicling the label's history in a coffee table book, a documentary film on DVD, and a compilation album on both CD and double LP of bands covering songs from the BYO catalog.