Edward Maya

One of Eastern Europe's foremost figures in EDM, Edward Maya works as a producer, songwriter, and performer whose breakthrough arrived in 2009 through the track "Stereo Love." Born Eduard Marian Ilie in Bucharest on June 29, 1986, he developed an early fascination with music and enrolled at Bucharest's George Enescu Music High School. While pursuing further training at the Bucharest Conservatory, Maya began composing alongside Eduard Carcota, resulting in a piece selected for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. This achievement opened doors to partnerships with several of Romania's top producers, including credits on releases by Costi Ionita, Cassa Loco, Marius Nedelcu, and Blaxy Girls. Establishing himself independently as a producer, Maya helmed the album Fără lacrimi ("No Tears") for Akcent, which yielded multiple European hits. In 2009 he joined forces with Eldar Mansurov and Vika Jigulina on "Stereo Love," issued as his debut single under his own name. The recording achieved strong results in Romania, entered the Top Ten across 16 additional countries, and surpassed 50 million views on YouTube. Maya followed in 2010 with the single "This Is My Life," again featuring Jigulina and another YouTube success, along with his debut full-length, Stereo Love. To retain oversight of his projects and support emerging talent, he launched the imprint Mayavin Records. Under that banner he issued a third collaboration with Jigulina, "Desert Rain," which reached the Top Ten in the Czech Republic in early 2011, followed by "Friends Forever" in mid-2012. His second album, The Stereo Love Show, surfaced in 2013 and included the prominent single "Mono in Love."