From the 1950s until the 1980s the VEB Deutsche Schallplatten was the monopolistic music publisher in the German Democratic Republic.
On August 12, 1946, the East Berlin singer and actor Ernst Busch got permission by Soviet military administration to institute a publishing house for music.
On February 3, 1947, Busch started the company Lied Der Zeit GmbH with the music labels Amiga, Eterna and Lied Der Zeit.
On April 1, 1953, the private GmbH-company had to change to a state-controlled VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb, "People-owned enterprise").
On March 18, 1955, the VEB Lied Der Zeit was renamed to VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin.
In 1990, it became Deutsche Schallplatten GmbH Berlin.
Labels of VEB Deutsche Schallplatten:
- Amiga for contemporary pop and rock music
- Eterna for classical music, operas, operettas and jazz
- Litera for radio plays, poetry readings
- Nova for contemporary art music
- Aurora for workers' songs and productions by Ernst Busch
- Schola for educational material
After 1990, some of these labels were sold to other music companies.