Dramatico dreams of expansion.

Dramatico goes into the fourth quarter in an acquisitive mood, having made senior appointments to its management team and announced a raft of new ventures.

Chairman Mike Batt also reveals that, contrary to speculation in the national press, he will continue to work with his label's key artist Katie Melua, who has signed a two-album extension to her current five- album deal.

Central to Dramatico's plans are the appointments of Tim Brown, formerly of Fisher's accountancy firm, as financial director and producer/arranger Frank Gallagher, who has worked with artists including Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church, in the new role of head of A&R.

Batt says that the label will aim to become pro-active in the area of publishing and recorded music catalogue acquisition. "The label needs to build the A&R and acquisitional business in terms of looking around for catalogues for publishing or masters, rather than us in the past being a cottage industry based around Katie and me," he says.

Dramatico is also planning to restart its New York office, opened in June last year as part of a concerted effort to break Melua in the US, which has to date shown little fruit.

"I don't want it just to be a support base for Katie," Batt says. "We are looking to grow the Dramatico business ...