The ratio of pitches we get via email vs. the ratio of PR pitches that ends up on the site is relatively small (watch us disappear off of everyone’s PR list now), but I have to say that one recent email caught my eye.

It linked to the five most hated artists in music today. The process used to figure this out was pretty simple, it seems. Looks like they just did Google searches on a number of artists and measured the amount of hits for “I Like So & So…” vs. “I Hate So & So…”. The results they came up with shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. They are:

5) Justin Bieber– One of those cyclical things that happens with every male teenage pop artist or group that comes out. If this was 2000, Justin’s spot would have been taken by Backstreet Boys or ‘NSync. If this was 1990, Justin’s spot would have been taken by New Kids on the Block. In many of these artists’ cases, the “hate” comes from two directions-either “serious” music fans who despise the sugary pop music many of these artists traffic in, or teenage boys pissed off that the attention they would like to be getting from girls is expended on pop idols.

4) The Jonas Brothers– Really? People still hate the Jonas Brothers? Why? They don’t even have careers anymore!

3) Ke$ha– I’ll co-sign this one. Not only for the stupid dollar sign in her name, but for the fact that she’s provided the soundtrack for the hundreds of slutty drunk girls I encounter on the train every Friday and Saturday night. When your biggest claim to fame is being a bootleg Lady GaGa, you deserve to be on a list like this.

2) Kanye West– While Kanye can certainly be annoying as a personality, I don’t think any reasonable person (with the exception of those that don’t understand or listen to hip-hop) hates the guy’s music. Kanye’s the victim of Bono disease. Enormous talent, huge ego, ginormous mouth. Why don’t people hate Bono (for example) as much as they hate Kanye? If you don’t think race has anything to do with it, I don’t know what to tell you.

…and, the #1 most hated artist in music right now is…

1) Chris Brown: Which I totally get, as he is a completely unsympathetic character. His actions following the Rihanna beating (refusing to man up and take his “punishment”-i.e. a year and a half as a pariah, the crocodile tears at the BET Awards, the GMA incident)-add up to a much more vilifiable (is that a word?) figure than if he’d just apologized after the incident and went away. But, proving that time heals all wounds, F.A.M.E. just crossed the 500,000 sales mark and has been a mainstay in the Top 10 since it’s release. Many may dislike the guy, but he’s got enough fans to make it a moot point.

The list itself is kind of funny. I mean, disliking Chris Brown is understandable, based on his personal actions. But what the hell did Justin Bieber or the Jonas Brothers do to anyone? And what can we do to make sure that the Black Eyed Peas wind up on this list next time one gets published? Who would you add to this list?