That's right, this title track from Eskimo Joe's third album would've been the biggest hit of the entire decade if we were going by digital sales alone given how inescapably popular it was on the format during its early stages. As you can guess, I've decided to construct this list to better reflect the rock and alternative scene of the second half of the decade for those rock purists out there.
#132 on physical list
Well, this was the official biggest hit of the decade here in Australia, so there's little surprise that the bulk of its success came from strong digital sales given how it was released when physical sales were rapidly on the decline worldwide.
#3 on physical list
It's strange this was only a sleeper hit at best in Evermore's native NZ given how it was easily one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia even without the inclusion of digital sales, of course, having those sales did boost it up to be in the same leagues as the likes of the biggest names in music worldwide that it outranks on this particular list of mine.
#82 on physical list
This was released rather late here in Australia even on our digital storefronts, I thought I'd bring that up since ARIA had a rule that prevented songs without a physical release from charting on their main charts during the first year and a half they implemented their digital charts which resulted in many songs charting late down under compared to the rest of the world this decade.
#5 on physical list
It seemed like Keri Hilson would be the future of pop diva's if we were to look at how big her collaboration with Timbaland was on the digital storefront upon its initial release, alas this massive improvement this song has on this ranking compared to its physical sales is the best she was able to achieve on the format down under.
#33 on physical list
I guess folk music also heavily benefitted from having its fanbase well connected with digital sales during the second half of the decade, as such we have this one and only hit from Jason Mraz appear much higher on this list than it would otherwise have done had I ranked it based on physical sales.
#16 on physical list
While this was a massive hit through physical sales (as evidence by its high placement on both of my 2007 lists) the bulk of this fourth single from Fergie's success comes from those who overlooked her album on the digital storefront in favour of this ballad where she gets to showcase her vocal talents without any gimmicks or notoriety.
#29 on physical list
BEP were completely unstoppable by the end of the decade regardless of which format they charted on, as such there's little surprise that the lead single to their third album with Fergie would be a massive success for them on the digital charts like it was on our main and physical charts.
#4 on physical list
I'm willing to bet that Lady Gaga's dominance on the digital charts worldwide is what finally compelled her fellow Americans to check out her music, after all, it was considered the cool new way of consuming music and anything big on this format was bound to at least spark interest on the Billboard charts.
#7 on physical list
I told you this song was inescapable on our digital charts when I featured it on the NZ side of my site, although I guess I should now explain why it was popular worldwide given that we've established the reason for its absence on this side of my site. This was a song that was overplayed to death upon its initial release due to its sombre tone which made it perfect for soundtracking some of the most melodramatic movie trailers of the day as well as easily fitting in with the emo scene which was completely inescapable during this point in time.
not eligible for physical list
I should forewarn my readers that many songs that have multiple versions of them will be placed much lower than you would otherwise expect on this list due to each version of these songs charting separately on our digital charts. This obviously wasn't the case for this track as no one cared about "Sexy chick" back in the day, however I feel this is a good place to mention this on here.
#6 on physical list
Who knows how big "Take your mama" would've been here in Australia given how well that song did over in NZ where digital downloads was already incorporated on their charts, although this was equally as successful on both formats down under, so perhaps that song wasn't so big back in the day after all.
#8 on physical list
You better believe P!nk's popularity skyrocketed here in Australia thanks to her fanbase being in tune with digital downloads, as such, this second single from her fourth album is by far her most successful of the decade down under if we were measuring it based on digital sales alone.
#62 on physical list
Given how Timbaland's entry from earlier on this list did so much better on our digital charts than our physical charts, I'm somewhat surprised this wasn't the case for the debut single for the band he "presented" on his solo album as that had the additional benefit of being from an indie band.
#17 on physical list
I think it's safe to say that the digital format had a wide variety of music fans during the second half of the decade given how Leona Lewis was able to achieve equal amounts of success on that format that she achieved with her physical sales here in Australia.
#11 on physical list
While her earlier entry on this list proved to be her most popular song on our digital charts, this lead single to P!nk's fifth album does remain a close second down under given how bombastic it was when it came out and how it remains to this day.
#10 on physical list
I guess we found the real reason why this was the big hit in Kings of Leon's native America and not their actual big hit from Only by the night (which we'll revisit in a bit) given how it was the big hit off the album if we were only going by digital sales.
#37 on physical list
Although this song was equally as popular regardless of which format we're referring to, I should bring up that Kesha proved to be more popular here in Australia on our physical charts with her subsequent follow ups which would explain why they were more popular here at the time than they were internationally given how the rest of the world had abandoned tracking physical sales going into the 2010's.
#13 on physical list
OK it turns out their earlier entry wasn't that much more popular through digital sales than this was, however, it was noticeable enough that the theory of this flopping in America because of that songs success over this remains plausible.
#15 on physical list
This is the only other song from Fergie's solo album that did quite a bit better on our digital charts than it did on our physical charts, although there's still two more entries from the album to come on this list even if they appear much lower on here than they would if I were ranking this based on physical sales.
#75 on physical list
This is further proof that throwback music is another genre that thrived on our digital charts during its infancy, as such, this throwback to the music of the 40's from Christina Aguilera was quite popular on that format in addition to it being a massive success with physical sales.
#20 on physical list
From her initial international breakthrough, Taylor Swift seemed hip with the kids of the moment, as such there's little surprise this was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was through physical sales.
#12 on physical list
It's hard to believe nowadays that JT was the epitome of cool back in the day, however this dominating our digital charts is the best proof I have for this in retrospect given how we have no entries from the likes of teen pop or other popular genres from the first half of the decade that even by the second half of the decade was deemed as lame by the masses.
#28 on physical list
Given how Madonna was able to dominate our digital charts months prior to the release of this debut single from Lady Gaga (we'll revisit at that song in a bit) it only makes sense that digital media was hungry for more music akin to the queen of pop and that the masses felt Stefani was the way of the future in that regard.
#32 on physical list
Mika was unavoidable during the album run of his debut album back in the day, it's little wonder that the bulk of its success came from strong digital sales here in Australia given how we Aussies were amused with the precocious nature of the (then) closeted LGBT star at the time.
#40 on physical list
This proved to be far more successful on our digital charts than our physical charts back in the day, this is the best proof I have that Matchbox 20 were way more popular with their singles throughout the decade than the weak physical sales would otherwise suggest given how they all came from highly successful albums.
#88 on physical list
I'm not sure why Shakira's popularity died out after the success of her second English language album worldwide considering how well it did on the digital market in addition to its physical sales, perhaps her time in the spotlight was meant to end with her first album but got extended due to how irresistible this bonus track from the second album was.
#27 on physical list
Well, I hope you're ready to see a bunch of tracks from the emo rock of the mid to late 00's on this list because there's a ton of them, by far the most successful was this second single from Good Charlotte's fourth album which greatly benefitted from digital sales worldwide as well as it being their biggest hit here in Australia due to strong physical sales.
#47 on physical list
It's a shame that Gabriella Cilmi remains a one hit wonder worldwide with the lead single to her debut album given how the bulk of its success came from digital sales in addition to strong physical sales back in the day, I guess that controversy at the 2008 ARIA awards where she appeared to engage in underage drinking was a death note to an otherwise promises career.
#18 on physical list
We have another rock track made popular with the emo crowd to find more success through digital sales back in the day rather than physical sales, this time it's the second single from Fall out boy's breakthrough album which suggests its rise in popularity in the format was due to album sales not being a hinderance to its success like it was with its physical format.
#83 on physical list
I know this shouldn't' qualify for this list given how it was more of a 2010's hit here in Australia, however I decided to include songs that got big in early 2010 for this list given how they can fill in for the first three months of 2006 where the digital charts still didn't exist on ARIA's database.
#14 on physical list
I guess this is proof that Avril Lavigne wouldn't have been that much more popular here in Australia if digital sales counted during the album cycle of her first two albums, sure the likes of "I'm with you" and "Don't tell me" would've been genuine hits here, however it appears she wasn't as hip with the digital crowd here as she was with those who bought physical copies of her music.
#9 on physical list
Regardless of which format she was charting on, Lady Gaga was an unstoppable force going into the 2010's which should tell you how wide her mass appeal was during her first two albums worldwide.
#22 on physical list
This song would be higher on this list if ARIA incorporated their digital charts at the start of 2006 rather than in April of that year, as such, I can't say how much bigger it was during the first stretch of the year on that format given how there's no data that exists which can tell me.
#19 on physical list
This saw a massive improvement on this ranking compared to where it otherwise would've been placed on my hypothetical physical charts list, I guess fans of Brendan Urie and company were really hip with the new way of consuming music when this song first came out much like fans of the band's contemporaries at the time.
#273 on physical list
You'd think that this being an unofficial theme to MasterChef Australia would've seen this be even more of a success on our digital charts down under, alas it was only equally as popular on that format as it was on our official charts.
#38 on physical list
Given how every other song that appeared on this list and the one for the 2010's from BEP was equally as popular on the digital charts as they were on the main charts, it's little surprise that this third single from the E.N.D would follow suit in this regard.
#30 on physical list
Given that Akon will only have one appearance on this list (two if you count his earlier feature with David Guetta) it's a bit surprising how much more popular this debut single from Sean Kingston was on our digital charts given how he was frequently compared to the older RNB star back in the day.
#69 on physical list
I mentioned that this song did alright thanks to its physical sales here in Australia, however I think we can all agree its placement on this list is a much better representation of how popular it was for RHCP back in the day given that it came from a highly successful album and was flogged on the radios.
#198 on physical list
This was the Veronicas biggest hit on the digital charts as it was in every other format here in Australia, although I would've thought this would do better on that format given how they fitted in with the emo rock scene of the moment even if I wouldn't exactly say their music was emo the same way that Good Charlotte and Panic at the disco was.
#44 on physical list
We Aussies really wanted to hear Christina Aguilera take on the music from the first half of the twentieth century, at least we did when it came to radio airplay and digital sales given how both eclipsed how well this did with its physical sales back in the day.
#185 on physical list
I'm a bit surprised that Gwen Stefani didn't do better on our digital charts back in the day, although the bulk of her hatedom would've been those who felt betrayed by her selling out from her time with No doubt so perhaps there was little chance she would do better on that format back in the day after all.
#36 on physical list
This is another band I'm confident would've had more success with their first album back in the day had ARIA tracked digital sales when it came out, at least the lead single to their second album greatly benefitted from the format given how much bigger it was compared to its physical sales back in the day.
#104 on physical list
I would say this collaboration being a success on our digital charts was due to the presence of JT, except I have a feeling that those who bought music through digital sales were hungry for music from pop diva's given how Madonna's obvious successor Lady Gaga dominated in that format mere months after this became the queen of pop's final hit single anywhere in the world.
#43 on physical list
Chris Brown is someone who greatly benefitted on our digital charts back in the day, although Jordin Sparks was also quite popular on that format meaning that both were equally as instrumental to this duet being a huge success on our digital charts back in the day in addition to its success as a physical single.
#31 on physical list
I honestly would've been dumbstruck if Kanye West wasn't more popular on our digital charts back in the day than he was on our physical charts, in fact it's worth noting that "Gold digger" charted on the digital charts during its initial launch which was months after it fell off the main charts due to it being pulled from shelves back in the day.
#99 on physical list
Miley Cyrus is another artist who did much better on our digital charts throughout the decade, however her older brother really benefitted from this format given how the one and only hit he had with his band managed to actually go to number one on those charts as opposed to it missing out on our main charts.
#41 on physical list
Folk music is another format that benefitted on our digital charts during the second half of the decade, as such it's little surprise that this one and only hit from Plain white T's managed to be even more successful on that format than it was on our main charts and indeed our physical charts back in the day.
#56 on physical list
While I doubt Nickelback would've benefitted on our digital charts given how both "Far away" and "Saving me" didn't exactly dominate them upon their initial release, I doubt they would've been hindered by their presence either given how Chad Kroeger's collaboration with Santana was a huge success there like it was on our main charts.
#26 on physical list
Given how Ed Sheeran flourished on the digital charts worldwide throughout the 2010's, it's little surprise that his predecessor Newton Faulkner would also see a chunk of his success on that format here in Australia which makes the lack of success he had throughout the 2010's that much more puzzling in retrospect.
#86 on physical list
Again, we have an entry from early 2006 that I'm sure would've been much higher on this list had ARIA bothered to track digital sales from when it was first released, as is, it was still a massive success for TV rock suggesting the bulk of its popularity came from the digital storefront as well as physical sales.
#2 on physical list
This made history here in Australia by becoming the first song to make it to number one on ARIA purely through digital sales, as such, it's only fitting that it would retain a high placement on this list even if it saw equal amount of success with its physical sales back in the day here as well.
#51 on physical list
You'd think that both artists on this track would've thrived in the 2010's here in Australia given how popular this was on the digital charts which had all but taken over the mainstream going into the new decade, alas this was the rapper's final hit here and Alicia would only score one more hit in 2012 before she too faded into obscurity.
#60 on physical list
I would say that this was a success on our digital charts thanks to the success of Slumdog millionaire, except I feel the real reason this was a hit was due to the presence of the Pussycat dolls who indeed were on a roll on that format down under thanks to several of their entries that we'll revisit in a bit.
#66 on physical list
Just the fact that this began charting around the time it was supposed to receive a physical release should indicate how much more successful this ballad was on our digital charts compared to our physical charts, although it's worth noting that it did have a strong debut at number one due to how heavily delayed it was over here.
#111 on physical list
It's a bit of a coincidence that this song has equal amounts of success as the previous entry regardless of which format we're looking at, although the difference being there wasn't a huge demand for this song when it finally received a physical release, meaning its popularity gradually grew as time went on as opposed to being immediate once it was released physically.
#112 on physical list
This is one of the few songs on this list that arguably had its success through its music video, bearing in mind that YouTube data doesn't count towards digital sales which suggests people bought the song thanks to finding the song soundtracking the video to be worth their money.
#61 on physical list
Again, this song's appearance is more to fill up this list as every song that was likely a hit on the digital charts during the first stretch of 2006 likely came from 2005 which gives me the perfect opportunity to say something new about the 2009 stragglers that appeared on my 2010's list.
#53 on physical list
Remember how I said songs with multiple versions of them are likely to appear much lower on this list than you would otherwise expect? It turns out there's more than one version of this track from Sandi Thom to become popular back in the day as there was a second version that only barely missed the cut on this list which naturally was combined with the main version on our main charts.
#1 on physical list
I guess fans of Beyonce were more willing to buy physical copies of her music rather than download them given how each of her entries were more popular on our physical charts (barring one of course) than they were on our digital charts with this signature track from her being no exception.
#34 on physical list
This feels like a much more appropriate placement for Silverchair on this list compared to my hypothetical physical list, indeed this is further proof that rock music was completely screwed over in the mainstream during the first half of the decade given how much of this song's success came from its digital sales when it first came out.
#121 on physical list
This is the last song to be released that was initially denied access to our main charts due to lacking a physical release, naturally this meant the song would be much more popular on our digital charts than our main charts as many of its contemporaries at the time were able to chart without a physical release.
#85 on physical list
I would say that people considered Kid Rock to be cool during the early years of the digital charts here in Australia, except I feel the success of this song on the digital charts was more due to the nostalgia baiting it relied on throughout the track. Besides, this guy has been widely mocked on the internet since his initial breakthrough in her native America in the late 90's.
#64 on physical list
Unfortunately, there won't be any further appearances from Sneaky sound system after this entry, although at least I can truthfully say this was a hit almost entirely through digital sales which is why it has a much more respectable placement on this list compared to it being a mere bonus entry on my 2007 list for the band.
not eligible for physical list
Even though this isn't the most recent entry on this list (that honour goes to "Replay" from earlier on this list) this is the song whose success is the most recent as it only became a hit here thanks to it rising up the charts due to it being considered the best song of 2009 according to listeners of Triple J. For what it's worth, this performed far better on our digital charts than it did on our physical charts.
#81 on physical list
I'm a bit surprised this didn't do even better on our digital charts given how well the Fray did on that format earlier in the decade, I guess rock music had once again been considered the dominant genre in the mainstream by the end of the decade which makes its exile from the mainstream in 2010 all the more puzzling to me.
#68 on physical list
This is a song that really suffered in this ranking due to it being more popular with physical sales, I know that because there's no version of this song that's devoid of Kesha (although I'm sure she wishes otherwise) meaning that this song wasn't anywhere near as popular on the digital storefront as it was with its physical sales.
#50 on physical list
This was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our main charts, I get the feeling that Fall out boy would've dominated both of these formats with their earlier entry on this list had that been the lead single to their breakthrough album and not this track.
#76 on physical list
This is a song from Miley Cyrus that proved to be equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, as such it managed to retain a high position on this list as it did on my hypothetical list ranking these songs based on their physical sales.
#73 on physical list
You'd think this song would've have most of its success on our digital charts considering that even back in the day, people felt it was little more than a meme. It turns out it was equally as popular on both formats for the rapper here in Australia albeit months after it was a worldwide phenomenon for him.
#71 on physical list
This is another song that has more than one version of it to become popular back in the day, that explains why it didn't do as well on our digital charts given how the second version of it (I'm guessing an even more tasteless version than the one we all know) managed to become a minor hit around the time this was popular.
#58 on physical list
While this did very well on our digital charts back in the day, it's a bit disheartening to see that most of its success came from people buying physical copies of it, suggesting that few people found the song problematic back in the day like the world certainly does now.
#54 on physical list
While none of her songs were as popular on our digital charts as they were on our physical charts, that didn't mean they were unpopular on that format as Beyonce was still one of the most popular artists in Australia regardless of which format we're referring to.
#55 on physical list
Even though this song's appearance on my 2008 and 2009 lists were primarily based on how well it did on the ARIA charts as opposed to every other entry where I based it on the AMR charts which never incorporated digital sales onto their charts, it appears ARIA was a bit liberal with how big this song was given how it somehow appears lower on this list than it did if I ranked it based on ARIA stats.
#57 on physical list
This song was quite popular on YouTube back in the day, although once again, YouTube data wasn't a factor when it came to digital sales meaning that just as many people downloaded the song as they did buy a physical copy of it.
#65 on physical list
This is another song that had more than one version become popular back in the day, as such it has a much lower placement on this list than you would otherwise expect given how the album version of this track proved to be more popular back in the day than the single version.
#39 on physical list
While this may be Nelly Furtado's highest entry on this list, this is mainly because "Promiscuous" (which we'll revisit in a bit) had more than one version chart on the digital charts, meaning this second single from Loose was the biggest hit from the album through digital sales. Once again, this is a song that did far better through this method rather than physical sales on this list.
#140 on physical list
It's interesting to see how most of P!nk's songs performed better on our digital charts than in any other format since their inception in 2006, one of the more popular songs in this format was this third single from her fourth album which likely explains why it and her top entry from this list managed to become moderate hits on Billboard several months after they were both a massive success down under.
#113 on physical list
This is the only entry from Akon where he's the lead artist, I guess he wasn't considered very popular on our digital storefront back in the day as the success he had in Australia mostly came from physical sales. None of his other songs as a lead artist even cracked the top twenty on those charts to give you an idea of how unpopular he was on the format.
#21 on physical list
Given how this song only took off in Australia due to its affiliation with the Devil wears Prada, it only makes sense that the bulk of its success came from streaming which is why this managed to have a much higher placement on this list than on my hypothetical physical charts list.
#186 on physical list
As we saw throughout the 2010's, Chris Brown and all of his would-be successors to his role as the prince of RNB performed quite well on our digital charts, this breakthrough single from Jay Sean being no exception despite it coming our fairly late here in Australia compared to the rest of the world.
#78 on physical list
I would've thought Kate Miller Heidke would've found more success with her songs on our digital charts this decade given her brand of quirkiness seems to be in line with many of the entries on this list that saw more success on that format than on our main charts, alas her one and only hit was merely as successful there as it was as a physical release.
#79 on physical list
It seems odd that this would be less successful on our digital charts than as a physical release given how this was released slightly sooner than when Leona Lewis saw massive success in this format with her earlier entry on this list, I guess this goes to show just how unpopular Alicia Keys was here in Australia during the peak of her popularity.
#24 on physical list
What I said about Jay Sean's entry earlier on this list applies to this debut single from Jason Derulo, so much so that you can pretty much copy and paste what I said here and apply it to his subsequent releases.
#80 on physical list
This may have been a hit for Last goodnight right before they decided to call it quits, however the band can at least take comfort in the fact that it was more of a hit here in Australia on our digital charts than as a physical release, meaning that it was more popular with the those who were into the likes of Panic! at the disco and Fall out boy than those who were into reality TV.
#97 on physical list
This lead single to the Veronicas second album proved to be more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, this is what I meant when I said earlier I was surprised that "Untouched" wasn't an even bigger hit on that format than it was as the girls effortlessly appealed to the market that was fueling our digital charts back in the day.
#127 on physical list
While it may seem that this was only as popular on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, I should point out that this had much stiffer competition on the digital charts given how there were far more entries it had to compete with than as a physical release.
#72 on physical list
This is the oldest song on this list that also appears on my 2010 rankings, it was equally as popular as a physical release and a digital release likely due to the combined might of Katy Perry and 3oh!3 during the height of both of their popularity.
#70 on physical list
This was one of the rare songs from 2009 that was more popular as a physical release than a digital release, likely because people have described it as a victory single that was donated to Miley Cyrus as the emotional climax of the Hannah Montana film that was playing in theatres at the time of its release.
#59 on physical list
This didn't seem to last as long on our digital charts as it did on our physical charts, although at least it was a success on our digital storefront likely due to how big "Love generation" was. That song won't be reappearing on this list mainly because it came out months prior to when ARIA began tracking digital sales.
#35 on physical list
It's odd that Mika failed to score a second hit in NZ considering how popular he was on our digital charts with his first album back in the day, I'm guessing the kiwis really didn't care for his precocious nature back in the day the way us Aussies did as their digital data was far stronger on their main charts than ours was over here.
#119 on physical list
This is the only song from Beyonce to find more success on our digital charts than our main charts, I'm guessing because it was the final single to come from her album I am Sasha fierce which meant that its physical success was slightly hampered due to it coming from an album that was already highly successful by the time it was released.
#108 on physical list
All three of Chris Brown's tracks from his second album managed to see more success on our digital charts than they did on our physical charts, this is to be expected of course given how well he and all of his knockoffs did throughout the 2010's on that format.
#109 on physical list
It looked like Guy Sebastian wasn't going to make the transition to the digital age in music given how the singles from his third album completely flopped on those charts, indeed this lead single to his fifth album was far less popular in that format than it was as a physical release.
#52 on physical list
You'd think this would've been far more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, alas it appears that the emo scene had become mainstream by the time these guys were able to cross over which admittedly was likely due to this being released two years after it first saw mainstream success.
#90 on physical list
This was one of the earliest songs to become a success from the club boom, so naturally some of that success would come from the digital storefront given how that's what fueled the success of the club boom during the first stretch of the 2010's worldwide.
#92 on physical list
This was roughly as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, meaning that regardless of what format it was on, this controversial ballad managed to appeal to the masses back in the day here in Australia.
#98 on physical list
This is another song that saw equal amounts of success on our digital charts as it did on our physical charts, further proving that Rihanna was one of the hottest stars of her day regardless of how one would consume her music.
#89 on physical list
Coldplay were another band to greatly benefit from our digital charts particularly with their fourth album named after this track, as such, this is the best proof I have that like Matchbox 20 and Silverchair, they were far more popular with their singles during the first half of the decade than the charts would otherwise suggest.
#177 on physical list
It's a bit surprising that Rihanna's previous entry wasn't more of a success on our digital charts considering that the second bonus track from Good girl bad was, it still didn't reach the dizzying heights it achieved over in NZ or her native America, however its success was certainly far more admirable there than on our main charts.
#110 on physical list
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