In 1984, Giacomo Maiolini seeing the possibility of making music his future, gave birth to what until then, had been a dream and a pleasant pastime, setting up TIME Records, an independent label which in the following forty was to indelibly mark the history of Italian and world music. Based in Brescia, from where all the ideas, the recordings and international hits originate, Giacomo’s life becomes that of an international commuter, traveling around the world in search of what the music world is hungry for. A success which through the course of the years has never been found lacking, and which has led to a revolution in the world music industry. At the outset of his career, Giacomo was able to brilliantly sense the untapped potential of markets yet to be discovered and understood. Japan thus became the testing ground for a new type of music, that of the “High-Energy”, which would for years be on top of the world charts through carefully selected compilations which would produce record monthly sales. This unprecedented success sees Giacomo catapulted into the International spotlight and Time becoming the benchmark for its genre of music. In fact, no recording company has ever, or will ever repeat an operation of this nature or with those numbers. The Japanese market was flooded with TIME productions, culminating in five Grammy Awards in 2000 for the compilations “Super Eurobeat presents initial D – D Non Stop Megamix” , Super Eurobeat vol. 100” “Super Eurobeat vol.110” However, the music industry travels at a breakneck pace, and so, at the end of the 80’s, with the birth of House music, Giacomo decides to ride this new wave, making Time the leading label for this genre of music. This new label is called “Italian Style” and in the first two years of production, there are the first brilliant performances; Jinny and U.S.U.R.A. There is a cascade of gold and platinum records. Whilst the Japanese market continued a huge success, the password started becoming a new one; “diversification”. A further extraordinary “sense” of the industry leads Time to further important successes. Giacomo is able to anticipate the huge potential in compilations and also thinks that the best way to do this would be to transform into recording the hugely popular “Deejay Parade” by Albertino. In 1993, an agreement with the erstwhile director of Radio Deejay, Claudio Cecchetto, this innovative idea was transformed into an enormous success, reaching its peak with 300,000 copies of “Deejay Parade Vol. 5” sold (Platinum Record). Up to the present the collaboration between Time and Radio Deejay continues and more recently, this collaboration was added to by Radio 105, Radio Montecarlo, M2O, RDS, as well as “Viva Radio 2” with Fiorello. The 90’s was a fantastic decade for Time: Aladino, Boy George, Billy More, Molella, Silvia Coleman, Datura, U.S.U.R.A ., DJ Dado, Run DMC VS Jason Nevins, Vengaboys, 20 Fingers, to name but a few. Besides harvesting continuing success on the Italian market, in 1995 Time obtained its first no.1 hit in the U.K. with the U.S.A. group The Outhere Brothers with “Don’t Stop”, repeating this success the following year with “Boom Boom Boom” which became a major European hit, selling more than 3 million copies (Gold Record in 8 Countries). On another two occasions, Time was able to top the U.K. charts, being the only Italian recording company to reach such a prestigious target. This was achieved with the project The Tamperer feat. Maya in 1998 with more than 2 million copies sold, and two years later with “You See The Trouble With Me” by Black Legend, giving Time further gold and platinum records. Giacomo’s unique ability to foresee trends well before others was further demonstrated in 2004 when he purchased the world rights to “Dragonstea Din Tei” by O-Zone, which sold more than ten million singles and in excess of two million albums, four million singles and one million albums in Japan alone. This single was able to top all the world charts, breaking the previous record held by none other than Michael Jackson. This universal success led to T.I. and Rihanna requesting and obtaining the rights from Time for the co production of “Live your life, the number 1 U.S.A smash hit with five million singles and three million albums sold. The word “diversification” becomes particularly important in the new millennium with Time once again in the forefront of many sectors of the music industry: compilations done in conjunction with the most important Italian Dance networks as well as international hits such as “Destination Calabria” by Alex Gaudino. In recent years, Time, whilst still remaining in the forefront of International Dance music, started to take a greater interest in Pop music. In 2010, Time garners an endless string of gold records with hits such as: Yolanda Be Cool, “We No Speak Americano”, Mads Langer “You’re Not Alone”, Rick L “Born Again” and a platinum with The Temper Trap “Sweet Disposition”. These hits continue in the following year with Carlo Emerald’s “A Night Like This” and “Back It Up”, with Don Omar feat. Lucenzo earning a multi-platinum with “Dance Kuduro”, with Brooke Fraser’s “Something In The Water” to name but a few. Pop music blends in perfectly with Giacomo’s concept of music and its historical production, so much so that in 2012 with the theme song of the Soccer World Cup Oceana “Endless Summer”, Time is awarded another Platinum record. The hits continue non-stop through 2013 and 2014: once again there is Caro Emerald “Tangled Up” (Gold), DVBBS & Borgeous “Tsunami” (Gold), As Animals “I See Ghost” (Gold), Time Square “Follow The Sun” (Platinum), Nico & Vinz “Am I Wrong” (Platinum), Martin Garrix “Animals” (Double Platinum) and Imany with“You Will Never Know” (Double Platinum). The thirty year Anniversary of Time have certainly not lessened the ambitions or enthusiasm of Time, which continues to be a leader in not only Pop and Mainstream, but also with the Rise label, the benchmark in club music. 2015 and 2016 saw the continuation of Time at the top of the European music charts with the hit by Feder Feat. Lyse “Goodbye”, which reached the number one spot in scores of countries and winning numerous awards such as: 4 Platinums in Russia, Platinum in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Switzerland and Holland, Gold in France and Germany. Together with the International success of Feder, Time also launched the talented and young Lost Frequencies, which with “Are You With Me” and “Reality” raked in 8 Platinums. The latest in this never ending string of successes and Platinums is the remix by Filatov & Karas of “Don’t Be Shy”, a single by the French superstar Imany (3 Platinum Records). 2017 starts its successful way to top charts thanks to the hit “Tuesday” by Burak Yeter Feat. Danelle Sandoval reaching Diamond Record in France, Platinum in Italy and kept on going up to three Golds in Italy with “Belong” by Axwell & Shapov, “Thinking About It” by Nathan Goshen and above all “Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd. Dennis Lloyd with “Nevermind” explodes in 2018 reaching over 2 billion streams and 700,000 download, making it a single hit that counted over 22 Platinum Records and 5 Gold’s all over the world including important music markets such as USA, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Canada territories. 2018 revealed to be a fruitful successful year in Italy too, when Lost Frequencies gained 2 Platinum with “Crazy” and a Platinum Record with “Melody” (Feat. James Blunt), Bob Sinclar winned Gold with “I Believe” meanwhile Dynoro & Gigi D’Agostino reached Double Platinum with the single “In My Mind”. Several hits have marked the 2019 issues : “My Llife is Going On” by Burak Yeter & Cecilia Krull wins 2Platinum Records in Italy and the Gold one in France and Lost Frequencies celebrated 11 Platinum records in Italy. It’s a fully prosperous year enriched by special collaborations too, such as Bob Sinclar and Robbie Williams , Tormento and J-Ax , Burak Yeter and Elodie. In 2020 the track “Hollywood” by LA Vision & Gigi D’Agostino climbs the European music charts with 7 Platinum Records and 2 Gold Records around Europe. Despite the radical change in the music industry over the course of the last 30 plus years of the existence of Time, the spirit and drive of the first years has remained unaltered. That of Time and its founder Giacomo, is the example of how passion, soul and determination allied to the “feel” for music can make the difference. In 2021 Giacomo is ready for a new challenge establishing a new record label for Urban Music only: Magnitudo. From then on, incursions into Italian music increased. Of particular note is the collaboration with Ciccio Merolla with the Capri Remix version of his hit Malatìa (certified Gold in 2023). 2023 is also the year of French superstar Bob Sinclar, with the single "Never Knew Love Like This Before" in collaboration with singer Quinze and with the re-arrangement of "Ti Sento", historical song by Matia Bazar feat. Antonella Ruggiero, who after more than a decade returns for Time Records to work on an Italian product. International hits, however, remain a 'habit that Time does not want to lose. 2023 is also the year of Alex Guesta, whose super viral My addiction reached over 3 million uses on Instagram worldwide and 7 Million on Spotify.
2024 is the year of Sanremo. Giacomo brings two of the most important international DJs: Bob Sinclar and Gigi D'Agostino, marking the definitive recognition of Dance music. The two artists also come out with their latest singles. Bob Sinclar made fans dance with “Digane” in collaboration with artist Sofiya Nzau, while Gigi D'Agostino's big comeback, after a long illness, played on the notes of “Shadows of the Night” in collaboration with the duo Boostedkids. In just a few weeks the record was a success without territorial boundaries. Time Records, 40 years later, continues to grow with numerous major records (thanks mainly to Giacomo's intuition and scouting), a Youtube channel with over a million subscribers, and always remaining at the top of the charts as well.
This summer Time Records did not stop and worked on several hits. In the meantime Dennis Lloyd’s single “Nevermind” surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify alone, a milestone never reached by an Italian independent label.
The story continues ...