Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin, the only official record company in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) before 1990, was sold to BMG National Berlin in 1993/94 and has been defunct since as a whole.
It was founded as Lied Der Zeit GmbH on August 12th 1946 and run privately by
Ernst Busch, a popular communist actor and singer, with permission from the Soviet military administration in eastern Germany. In the 1950s, Ernst Busch more and more ran into political troubles with the conservative government. The relatively broad release catalogue, that included jazz and soldier songs from the USA, did not fit the GDR's cultural concepts. This resulted in a blacklisting of Busch as performer and artist in late 1952 and the label ownership being transfered to state control in 1953. On April 1st 1953 the company was renamed to VEB Lied Der Zeit and then finally on March 18th 1955 to VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin.
In 1990 it became Deutsche Schallplatten GmbH Berlin.
Labelcode:
LC 6056
The sublabels from that era are:
AMIGA (founded Feb 3rd 1947; rock, jazz, entertainment, etc.)
AURORA (2) (founded 1978; political)
ETERNA (founded Feb 3rd 1947; classical, religious, folk, jazz)
LIED DER ZEIT (founded Feb 3rd 1947, discontinued in the 50s; political)
LITERA (founded 1959; radio plays, readings, etc.)
NOVA (contemporary classic & experimental)
SCHOLA (founded 1968; educational)
The Cataloge#-System:
8 60 142 – 1. number = format
0 = cass
1 = shellac
4-6 = 7"-single
7 = 10" or DMM-LP (direct metal mastering, since 198x)
8 = LP
8
60 142 – 2. number, 1. numeral = label
1 =
ETERNA,
AURORA (2) (small editions, approx. 15 LP’s)
2, 3 =
ETERNA
4, 5 =
AMIGA
6 =
LITERA (before 1963 label was called: ETERNA-Hörspiele)
7 =
SCHOLA,
LITERA (non-german language, foreign-language)
8 =
NOVA (only LP’s)
8 =
AURORA (2) (only 7"-singles, approx. 49 qty.)
9 = 7"-single as an addition to a book
SP.U. = special pressing
8 6
0 142 – 2. number, 2. numeral = recording character
0-2 = mono-recording
5-8 = stereo-recording
8 60
142 – 3. number = serial number
001–999 = artist and titel