This list will go over what was popular in NZ this year, although my commentary comes from my ranking of the biggest hits of the 2010's so keep that in mind when reading through this list.
This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely because while both parties remain a one hit wonder each over there like they do internationally, it had the presence of Kimbra who was a rising star in their local indie scene which no doubt led to the success of her album over there. The ballad has often been praised for creating a unique dynamic between the narrators of the song.
Again, we have a reappearance from a song that was a hit in NZ the exact same way it was here in Australia, as such I don't have anything more to add to this entry that I didn't already cover on the Australian side of this site.
This is a song whose cultural appeal is more interesting than the song itself, however I covered how this song changed the landscape of mainstream music, so instead I'll focus on its own merits. This was a comedy track parodying the residents of the Gangnam district who he felt were pompous members of his society, the video of course being his way of accentuating his frustrations towards these people that of course amused audiences worldwide.
I'm guessing the kiwis had access to Triple J as a radio station given how they were able to discover the works of Macklemore the same time us Aussies did which would explain how this song became a success for him and Ryan Lewis the same time as it did down under despite it only being a success in their native America after it became a critical darling in both countries.
This was more of a success in NZ likely due to Rihanna being more popular over there than she was in Australia throughout her career, admittedly it wasn't that much bigger over there as this lead single to her album Talk that talk was noticeably produced by Calvin Harris to the point where he even got a featuring credit on the track despite him not providing any vocals on the track (that I know of at least.)
It's a bit odd that although all three of LMFAO's hits in Australia were also as such in NZ, they would all be considerably less successful over there than they were over here despite them being made by members of Barry Gordy's extended family. I guess this would explain why Redfoo decided to launch his solo career in Australia as he felt we Aussies were his biggest fanbase in the world.
Although it wasn't a success in NZ any sooner than it was here in Australia, this breakthrough single from Fun proved to be far more popular over there likely due to the kiwis still being massive fans of Glee upon its initial burst of popularity. I didn't mention that this has Janelle Monae on backing vocals on the Australian side of this site, that's mainly because they're so unnoticeable I doubt anyone would pick up on them being there.
You'd think this track from Nicki Minaj would've been a massive chart topper for her over in NZ considering how much the kiwis loved female rappers up until this point, granted this was still a huge hit for her over there, however it having slightly less success there as it did here was a bit of a surprise to me. I'm guessing because like most fans, they considered this to be more of a pop song than a hip-hop track.
Much like the other two entries on this list to have Nate Reuss on vocals, this was more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia proving how much the kiwis loved the Fun frontman over us Aussies throughout the decade. It was another song this decade to be featured in every commercial you can think of which no doubt helped the band escape the one hit wonder bin their earlier entry threatened to trap them in.
This wound up being slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, this was mainly due to it having stiff competition here due to it being released during the height of the first season of the Voice Australia where several songs at the time became minor hits due to them being used on the show during its chart run. Naturally there was no such hinderance to this song's popularity with the kiwis.
It makes sense that this wasn't quite as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia given how EDM was always the genre that we Aussies loved over the kiwis, although I would've been shocked if this track bombed over there given how well received it was for the band in question. Evidently, they've since reformed and have tried to recapture the success they had with their final single from their initial run.
It appears that the kiwis were as invested in having Sia become a mainstream success as we Aussies were given how this club track from Flo Rida managed to be equally successful in both countries thanks to her presence on the chorus here. Of course, this had to compete with "Titanium" at the time given how that song was delayed to when this came out over there due to the kiwis not knowing who she was when it came out here.
Although this appears much higher on this list than the one on the Australian side of this site, that's largely due to it charting much higher in NZ for Rihanna given how the kiwis had always loved her music much more than we Aussies did during her time in the spotlight. The overall impact of this song and the album it came from was the same in both countries from the southern hemisphere.
This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, it goes to show how much we Aussies and kiwis loved Avicii's remix of an Etta James classic with Flo Rida rapping over said remix during the height of the club boom.
Given how this didn't have to compete with David Guetta's collaboration with Usher, it managed to become slightly more successful for him and Sia upon its initial release which I'm sure is what led the kiwis to fully appreciate Sia given how this was released around the time her collaboration with Flo Rida was becoming a success worldwide.
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, this was the case for all of Taylor Swift's music this decade save for her material from 1989 which was less popular over there due to her making the strange decision to pull all of her works from Spotify during the height of that album's success.
While this wasn't as big a hit for Guy Sebastian in NZ as it was here in Australia, it was a noticeable success over there likely due to the presence of Lupe Fiasco even though the rapper never had a hit of his own over there like he did over here.
This proved to be much less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because they didn't appreciate Flo Rida's "whistling" metaphors as much as the rest of the world even though they still must of appreciated it enough to make it as big a hit as it was.
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this sellout track from Coldplay as the rest of the world was, granted, none of their songs I've featured on this site had more success over there than they had here in Australia, so it's not like this song's lower placement on this list is much of a surprise to me.
I did mention earlier on this list that this collaboration between Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen was more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing it was due to her popularity given how it was released mere months after her entry from this list managed to take the world by storm thanks to an endorsement from Justin Bieber of all people.
Given how this was an instant success over in NZ as opposed to it needing to be a hit twice over here in Australia, it was inevitable that this debut single from 1D would be much lower on this list even though you can make the argument that the song was equally as popular in both countries despite how differently they were successful in them.
I did mention from earlier on this list that this (in my opinion) bizarre track from Train was more of a hit over there than it was over here, I'm guessing because this was released around the time the Voice Australia was taking our music scene by storm which meant that it was largely overshadowed by everything that was used during the auditions at the time.
This was slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia, this is interesting because this remains the Script's only hit over there even though they scored multiple hits over here including this song that serves as the unofficial theme to the Voice UK where lead singer Danny O'Donoghue and guest rapper Will I am were judges on. I guess the kiwis were really into reality TV from overseas around this time.
This proved to be more successful for Maroon 5 in NZ than it was here in Australia, meaning that the kiwis seemed to be on board with the change in direction the band (which many believe to be little more than an Adam Levine solo project at this point) were heading in throughout the decade.
This was also equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I guess it makes sense given how the kiwis didn't seem to love the Police during their heyday as we Aussies did which this song has often been compared to since its release. While there was more of a polarising reception to his debut album, his second album was where everyone in the music industry came together to express their love for his music.
This is another song this decade that saw more success in NZ than it did here in Australia from Katy Perry, I'm guessing because it didn't have as much competition over there upon its initial release as it did over here where it competed with everything that made it big through the Voice Australia like many other repeat entries from 2012 on this list.
Unlike in Australia where Britney Spears had some success on her own during the first half of the decade, this was the only hit that she had in NZ throughout the entire decade, meaning that this performance is the only indicator of the kiwis love for the princess of pop of the 00's. At least it managed to match its success in both countries, although that might be more because of Will I am's popularity.
There's little surprise that this was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because the song sounds like it would be the soundtrack to a film that was made specifically to appear on many worst films of all time lists which happens to be the case as that was exactly what happened to it upon its initial release. At least the song remains far better received to this day due to how laid back it is.
This wasn't quite as successful for Of monsters and men over in NZ, likely because its success was more immediate over there as well as it failing to rebound on their charts due to being placed rather high on Triple J's year end list for 2012 like it did on our charts. Still the fact that they had a hit over there was impressive given how Bjork failed to do so during her heyday.
Much like here in Australia, this was originally a flop for Rihanna when it was released alongside the album it was pulled from in NZ, however once it did become a hit over there, it proved to be much more popular likely due to it fitting in with the club boom trends which were still going strong when it crossed over to the mainstream worldwide.
This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for Ed Sheeran, likely because the kiwis felt this was a tribute to the 80's TV series of the same name and didn't end up minding when they realised the darker subject matter of the song like several online reviewers did back in the day.
This is the only instance of Taylor Swift finding more success over in NZ than she did here in Australia, I'm guessing because this also didn't have much competition from the growing indie scene over there like it did over here thanks to the success of both the Voice Australia and X Factor Australia shedding light onto said scene.
This was the one and only hit from NZ singer/songwriter Annah Mac, likely because she's better known for her charity work than her music career given how she frequently performs for women in prison to help inspire them into changing their lives around which apparently has had a high success rate over the years.
You know that the club boom was inescapable in NZ when even these guys managed to score a massive hit over there just as it was winding down, it was their only hit outside of Australia likely due to their other entries on the Australian equivalent of this list being released well after the club boom ended.
This was one of the theme songs from the first Breaking dawn film from the Twilight saga, it was a song that wasn't well received at the time due to it being too melodramatic even for the likes of Bruno Mars and the Twilight saga despite it being a massive worldwide hit for him. It was a minor hit here in Australia, too minor in fact to qualify for the list.
This is a song that really fell in the rankings for this list compared to the Australian equivalent, this might be because its popularity here in Australia was bolstered due to contestants on the Voice Australia choosing it to audition for the show as opposed to NZ where it didn't have this advantage.
This was the second hit that Six60 achieved in their homeland, it was a massive hit for them as was most of their catalogue which is why it makes a respectable appearance on this list of mine.
This missed out on appearing on the Australian side of my site due to it being too much of a sleeper hit to qualify for that list (due to it competing with all of the songs that got big through auditions on the Voice Australia.) Fortunately, it was much more of a concrete hit in NZ which means this lead single to JB's second album managed to appear on this list in a placement that feels accurate to its popularity at the time.
I wasn't expecting to see this appear higher on this list than it did on the Australian equivalent, mainly because Flo Rida wasn't as popular this decade over there as he was over here and also due to the second single from Olly's breakthrough album "Dear darling" failing to catch on over there like it did over here. That said, he did score a second hit over there later in the decade with Demi Lovato of all people.
While he didn't have as many appearances on this list as he did on the Australian equivalent, this hit for Chris Brown during the dying days of the club boom did manage to be slightly more popular over there than it was over here. He would see a massive comeback by the end of the decade with his previous entry on this list.
This is the one and only hit to come from the indie darling Marina Diamandis AKA Marina and the Diamonds, she came up with that stage name by referring to her fanbase as her Diamonds which I think is why she had such a fierce following to this day despite being a one hit wonder in the mainstream. This is a bad representation of her catalogue as this is more in line with something Kesha would release at the time.
I really wasn't expecting this to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for P!nk, then again, with the exception of "True love" which wasn't even a hit over there, all of the singles from her sixth album proved to be more popular over there than it was over here likely due to them not having stiff competition over there like they did over here.
From what I can gather, Chris Rene was a contestant on American X Factor (side note, why does every country need their equivalent of a reality show such as ______ Idol and the Voice?) who auditioned to be on the show with this song he wrote and got quite far in the competition for this year. Given how the kiwis are massive fans of reality TV, they promptly made this track a hit despite him not winning on the show.
Given how this was released on time over in NZ for Labrinth, you'd think that it would've seen a massive improvement on this ranking but alas, it was merely as successful over there as it was over here likely due to it being the kiwi's introduction to dubstep as this was before Skrillex broke through onto the mainstream worldwide. We'll be looking at a song from Tinie Tempah as a lead artist much later down this list.
This also went straight to number one for Katy Perry over in NZ upon its initial release, naturally this would explain why it has a better placement on this list as it had to work its way up to its popularity here in Australia given how it was a song about her needing to find herself which was a bit deeper than anything she had released prior to this track.
Although this didn't chart as high in NZ as it did here in Australia for Kesha, it appears the kiwis nonetheless had enough love for this lead single to her second album that they allowed her to have one more hit as a lead artist before they discarded her entirely for the remainder of the decade. It was one of the last songs to be affiliated with the club boom, which would explain its lower peak position over there.
I did mention that this song only managed to debut at number one due to the hype that went into P!nk's sixth album here in Australia, indeed, this technically managed to be a bigger hit for her over in NZ given how it had to work its way up to the top ten over there which meant that it lasted longer on their charts than it did on our charts.
At least this song was able to make an appearance on the Australian side of my site as opposed to JB's earlier entry on this list, although it was also noticeably more popular in NZ than it was over here again likely due to it having to take a back seat to all of the indie songs making it big down under thanks to them being used for auditions by contestants of reality shows.
This was another song that was more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, in this case it was because it was more of an immediate success for both JB and Nicki over there as opposed to it having to work its way up the charts like it did over here. For a while, it looked like it would be his final hit worldwide due to a string of bad decisions throughout 2013 which led him to being temporarily cancelled.
This was another song to have an improved placement on this list from 2012, although the theme for that year was that all of these repeat entries didn't have to compete with the Voice phenomenon which involved several indie tracks making it big that year due to them being used for auditions that the contestants made on the show.
From what I can gather, the Babysitter's circus was an RNB group who scored their one and only hit in their homeland with this gem that was a bit of a sleeper hit compared to a lot of the other entries on this list. In fact, it was technically a hit twice as it rebounded on the charts several months after its initial release likely due to it being ranked high on a 2011 yearend list and rebounding in the new year as a result.
This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Flo Rida, I guess we Aussies and kiwis were a bit neutral when it came to Flo Rida and his attempts at conscious hip hop given how this was far from his most popular track in his catalogue. It could also be that this is what helped us discover "Piano in the dark" by Brenda Russell given how that song failed to find success outside of America in the late 80's.
This was the only song from the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords to become a hit in their homeland, mainly because it was a charity single that comprised of them and several big-name celebrities from their homeland which naturally made sure that the song would be an instant success for everyone involved.
This barely failed to appear on the Australian side of my site, mainly because like many entries from 2012, it was unable to compete with all of the indie music sweeping our local music scene due to it being a club banger made during the dying days of the club boom. Fortunately for her, the kiwis were able to jive with this banger upon its initial release and make it a massive hit for the rapper/singer.
This was far more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely because the kiwis felt that Florence Welch was more suited to EDM than indie rock given how this and the remix of "Spectrum" managed to be much more successful than anything from her catalogue with Florence + the Machines over there.
Much like the previous entry, Calvin Harris was able to find more success in NZ with this collaboration with Florence Welch than he did over here in Australia, further proving how much the kiwis were on board with her becoming an EDM artist even if that didn't end up happening outside of these two entries.
This barely missed the cut in appearing on the Australian side of this site, largely because it fell under our radar back in the day due to all of the indie music making it big around the time of its success down under pushing it out of our mainstream. Fortunately, the kiwis allowed it to become a hit likely due to how it reminded them of a Katy Perry song, that is if Katy ever rapped on one of her singles.
Given how T-Pain was among the most popular artists of the 00's in NZ in addition to this being his biggest hit here in Australia (as a lead artist that is) it only makes sense that this managed to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for the rapper/RNB star during the waning days of the club boom.
This was the one and only hit from the NZ boy band Titanium, I'm guessing they were put together to compete with the likes of 1D and Justice Crew given how both of those groups were finding massive success over here in Australia and even over there which would explain why this was a chart topper for the group in their homeland.
Even though "Jar of hearts" was a massive flop in NZ, this theme song from Twilight breaking dawn managed to be an even bigger hit for Christina Perri likely due to its affiliation with the film rather than it being a ballad from the international two hit wonder. Indeed, it managed to chart for quite a while over there likely due to it becoming a fan favourite for reality show contestants to cover.
There are two versions of this song floating around on the internet, the version with American idol contestant Astro was the big hit over in NZ and Cher Lloyd's native UK, however the version without him is what got popular in America (for some reason as you'd think it would be the other way around over there.) This song has gone down in infamy due to its toxic lyrics and Cher's over the top personality.
This was one of only two hits that Rita Ora was able to achieve in NZ this decade, we'll look at the other one in a bit but this was by far the biggest hit she had over there likely due to the lack of competition it had upon its initial release compared to over here where it had to compete with a bunch of songs that made it big thanks to the Voice Australia's input on our charts.
It's really surprising to me how Nicki Minaj didn't have as much success in NZ with many of her singles this decade as she did here in Australia, this in particular is weird considering how it's a collaboration with David Guetta who was on a roll at the time due to his earlier entries on this list. I guess this was a success in NZ for the pair likely due to the video which contextualises how robotic she sounds on the track.
It only seems fitting that this debut single from Rudimental would be less successful over in NZ than it was here in Australia, this is mainly because they made it big down under thanks to promotion on Triple J whereas the kiwis likely followed suit with making it a success due to them not wanting to miss out on what the fuss was about for the British EDM duo.
Even though this was released on time over in NZ compared to here in Australia where it was delayed, it managed to be far less popular over there once again proving that a song having its released delayed in a country was a good way of ensuring the maximum potential for its success even in recent years.
I was a bit confused when I saw this charting in NZ back in the day, after all, it's not like the original version of this remix was the biggest hit here in Australia for Havana Brown almost a year prior to its international release. I then found out that this received a remix that features a guest verse from Pitbull in order to try and appeal to the American market which succeeded due to it being released during the club boom.
It makes sense that this would be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia given how these guys managed to score a second hit from their breakthrough album over there from the start of the decade. It also didn't have to compete with all of the indie tracks that made it big thanks to reality TV over there compared to over here where that gave this a disadvantage in our music scene.
I really wasn't expecting to see this victory single from Reece Mastin achieve this level of success in NZ this decade, granted the kiwis always seemed interested in reality shows outside of their homeland, however I really didn't think they were over the moon for the third season of X Factor Australia that this would be among the more popular songs over there during the dying days of the club boom.
I guess I'm not that surprised that this was a slightly bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia given how there wasn't a vastly popular reality series that clogged up their music charts over there like there was over here around the time this was released as a single. Indeed, it remains their final hit over there like it was over here, proving that the hip hop group were able to go off on a high note in both countries.
This is the other hit that Mumford and sons managed to achieve this decade in NZ, it's the lead single to their second album which was far more popular over there and in America of all places than it was here in Australia for the folk band. Although they wouldn't score another hit in either country, their third album would be a huge success for them as the decade went on regardless of its failure to spawn a hit.
I feel this is the sequel to Drake and Rihanna's collaboration from earlier on this list as whilst that was made with the two were dating, this was made when the two had broken up, suggesting that this was their way of letting each other know that they would always be there for each other as friends even if they were incompatible as lovers. This naturally proved to be more poignant with the kiwis than us Aussies.
I'm a bit surprised this wasn't a big hit here in Australia as I do remember hearing this quite a bit back in the day, however its success on this list seems accurate to how big it was due to the artist momentum that both Pitbull and Chris Brown had at the time.
Well, we have a collaboration with two artists that seem to be highly unusual together but were able to score a hit regardless with this team up, at least this was the case over in NZ as Coldplay teamed up with Rihanna on this second single from the former's album Mylo xyloto. I guess the kiwis were impressed with this team up in a way no one else in the world was.
I would say that Taylor Swift was such an inescapable phenomenon this decade that even her theme to the first Hunger games film managed to become a worldwide success, except that was only the case in NZ as this flopped everywhere else in the world for her. Instead, this feels like evidence that the kiwis were the biggest fans of the film franchise given how it isn't even the final theme to appear on this list.
I did mention that we would eventually get to this ballad from Emeli Sande didn't I? So here we are with her one and only hit as a lead artist that she achieved in NZ and her native UK long before either of her two entries we've already looked at on this list where she was the featured artist. This did become a minor hit here in Australia a year after its initial release due to someone using it as their audition for the Voice Australia.
It seems weird that I would only feature both of Hot Chelle Rae's hits on each side of this site, however it appears that we Aussies passed up this second single from the pop rock band just as the kiwis did for their international hit "Tonight tonight."
This was also a bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia, as well as it being a bigger hit than "Live while we're young" which at least is still to come later down this list as the kiwis also made that a moderate hit for the boys.
This is another song that barely missed the cut for appearing on the Australian side of my site, needless to say that this was the lead single for 1D's second album that was largely overlooked here in favour of "Little things" from earlier on this list.
This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because it came at the tail end of the club boom and that both countries were looking to move on from it in favour of the indie scene which Chris didn't think to capitalise off of.
It appears that this is one of the rare songs that managed to not only be a hit upon its initial release but also be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing this means the kiwis went with the original version of this track and not the version which has Nicki Minaj tacked on it that became a success here and, in the duo's, native America.
I have no idea how the kiwis came across this track from Canadian rapper K'naan, I'm guessing they gravitated towards this hip hop track due to the chorus that Nelly Furtado provided him, which allowed her to have one more hit over there before she truly faded into obscurity.
This it to date the final hit that Kelly Clarkson has had anywhere in the world given how her 2010's output hasn't resonated with audiences like her 00's output, indeed this was heavily criticised back in the day as it being her least personal track even though it remains one of her biggest hits in her native America.
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