Donna,

I do know Bluewater and several of their people on their site, Gabrielle and others. ( I always try to know the cute girls, LOL!)
They are a straight shooting company, but I am sure they do charge a fee for their services. Most people part with publishing as a way to not have to deal with it, and the publishing is administrated by that publisher. That is what Bluewater is doing.

If your song is going to be cut by a "MAJOR" Nashville artist (and I don't know if you are sure what that means), chances are you are going to have to give up your publishing to THEIR publisher. I haven't known of a major artist in decades that has not had to have the publishing on a song to even put it on their projects. Unless the song is published by a major publisher.

Most artists are tied into publishing deals as well, and it is more or less standard that the people that represent them are going to get the publishing. And it is also fairly standard now that a publishing company ask YOU to share in the expenses as well. So don't be surprised if you get an invoice charging you something for administration.

It is not all cut and dried and getting cuts now can be very confusing and more often than not, quite unfair. But that is the cost of doing business. Find out what the people you are dealing with, and see what they think the next step is. They might not WANT you to go to Bluewater because they have their own relationships built up. I'd check with whoever has gotten you the cut first before I did anything.

MAB