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 is one of only three entries that Halsey managed to achieve on this list given how the alternative singer wasn't as popular in NZ as she was here in Australia, although it's possible that a comeback is in the works given how indie pop from singers such as herself is currently thriving in the music scene (as of this writing.) I doubt we'll ever hear from the Chainsmokers again due to how quickly people grew tired of them.
Given how much more popular his theme to the 50 shades franchise was over in NZ (which will come much later on this list) it makes sense that Abel's second single from his breakthrough album Beauty behind the madness would be more popular over there than it was over here for him. Indeed, had we Aussies given him more success with "Earned it" and his contributions to the Hunger games franchise, this might've been as big over here.
Much like here in Australia, this remains JB's biggest hit over in NZ due to it being the redemption ark of his career following a string bad decisions both in his music career and his personal life during the first half of the decade. If proved to be a slightly bigger success over there than it was over here likely due to how much more popular he was as a teen idol from earlier in the decade.
Again, Drake wasn't as inescapable in NZ as he was in America and his native Canada this decade (at least prior to his takeover of Spotify) which means we won't be seeing many appearances from him on this list. Indeed, this track with Wizkid and Kyla (the chipmunk vocalists on the track) remains his biggest hit in the southern hemisphere to date even without Spotify shoving it in every playlist like his later hits.
This was also slightly more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia for JB, I honestly didn't realise how much more the kiwis loved this guy over us Aussies as it felt like he was well loved throughout the entire decade (at least outside of the internet if felt like that.)
You'd think that this would be even more inescapable in NZ than it was here in Australia given how Abel saw massive success over there with his earlier entry on this list, alas its popularity over there was equal to what it was over here likely due to the subject matter being a bit off putting for the average listener.
Of the three hits that JB scored on his comeback album Purpose, this is the one whose success had the biggest improvement over in NZ given how it managed to sneak in at number one before his previous entry on this list overtook it as a chart topper over there.
This is another song on this list that saw equal amounts of success in both countries in the southern hemisphere, primarily because of the drama that came from this song's existence given how both Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift were among the most popular artist of the moment when it came out.
While "Hide away" was a minor hit for Daya, it's likely that this is the only thing the kiwis will know her for given how it has massively overshadowed her solo entry as opposed to here in Australia where this collaboration didn't completely do so due to that song at least becoming a massive hit in its own right. Either way, these are the only two songs that anyone outside her native America will know from her.
This is another song this decade that found more success over in NZ than it did here in Australia, I'm guessing because this was more of a hit on streaming which had officially taken over the NZ music scene by the time it was released as opposed to here in Australia where it was still competing with digital sales. I guess it could also be the song was more popular over there overall, but somehow, I doubt it.
This is another artist whose career trajectory in NZ was identical to that here in Australia, as such he remains a two-hit wonder with both this and "Impossible" for the exact reasons in both countries that I brought up when I mentioned these songs on the Australian side of this site.
This wound up being more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia much like JB's other EDM collaboration from around this time, again I feel this was because Spotify streaming had taken over their mainstream by this point as opposed to here in Australia where digital downloads was still the biggest form of music consumption at the time.
This was another song that saw a slight improvement with its popularity over in NZ compared to here in Australia this decade, although I'm not sure why as there was no signs that "Love someone" would've been a huge hit over there had the Danish band engaged with Spotify the way Drake and Ed Sheeran did this decade like it was here in Australia. I guess the kiwis were really touched by the story of the lead singer in this ballad.
This was slightly less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because when it rebounded on the charts worldwide once the film was released to cinemas, it didn't last as long over there during this time as it did over here. I guess this means the kiwis weren't interested in the film it was a part of an instead saw it as another fun dance pop number from JT.
Well, this is certainly a surprise, mainly because there haven't been many hits from an Australian artist to find more success in NZ that I've featured on this site (although it does occasionally happen.) I guess the kiwis were really impressed with this international breakthrough hit from Flume which would no doubt explain why it was able to crossover to America shortly after it became a massive hit in NZ.
Much like the other singles in her catalogue, this proved to be equally as successful for Adele in NZ as it was here in Australia, although the rest of the singles from 25 were more successful over there likely due to strong streaming numbers which obviously didn't factor into their success here in Australia.
This was another song from 2016 to see a massive improvement in the ranking on this side of my site, I'm guessing because the kiwis were more touched by the lyrics on this song (although not from the original version funnily enough) to allow it to be a massive hit over there as both a redemption ark for Mike Posner as well as it being perfect for a night out on the dance floors.
This proved to be more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia as were most repeat entries from 2016, admittedly Fifth Harmony did see massive success on our streaming charts with this raunchy sex number which would explain why it did much better over there than it did over here where that format dominated their charts over the digital charts.
While this was more popular for Bruno Mars over in NZ than it was here in Australia, the real surprise came with the second single from the album this is named after as that was more popular still over there compared to what it was here in Australia for Bruno. Again, we have his strong presence on streaming platforms to thank for this as he had to compete with digital sales down under.
This is another track that managed to become more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia from an Australian artist, this makes it the second appearance from such a track on this list following Flume's earlier entry on this list (rather coincidentally, both songs were big in 2016.) Admittedly this song's popularity over there was likely due to it becoming her biggest hit in America where it topped the Billboard charts.
I guess the kiwis had more fond memories of the Baby Bash classic that this interpolates than we Aussies did, so much so that it finally gave Robin Schulz a second hit over there following the success of his remix of "Prayer in C" with Lilly the Prick.
Well at least the original was a hit here in Australia for Tracy Chapman, that and we Aussies always were big fans of dance remixed of classics (for better or worse) which explained the success of this track over here. I guess the kiwis wanted to atone for failing to make the original a success back in the 80's by making this way more successful over there than it was over here for Jonas Blue.
Given how streaming had fully taken over the NZ charts by the time this second single from Views was released, it only makes sense that it would be more popular over there than it was over here despite it being the complete opposite of his previous collaboration with Rihanna from earlier in the decade.
This is another example of a song from 2016 finding more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, I'm guessing because once again, it was a song that did well on streaming services that year as opposed to digital sales which is why many songs from that year that made it big down under didn't make a second appearance on this list of mine.
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, it's slightly better placement on this list is more due to the lack of competition it had as just about every returning entry from 2016 managed to perform better on this list than it did on the Australian side of this site. It's little wonder this managed to resonate with audiences upon its initial release, thus putting Twenty Øne Piløts on the map.
For the most part, Rudimental didn't have as much success in NZ as they did here in Australia throughout the decade, the exception came when Ed Sheeran decided to collaborate with them for the lead single to their second album which allowed the song to be a massive hit for both parties involved over there more so than it was over here.
Much like his earlier entry on this list, this was also a much bigger hit for Flume over in NZ than it was here in Australia. I'm guessing this was due to the featured vocalist as Tove Lo also managed to have more success over there with her hit single (which is still to come on this list) than she did over here.
Even taking into account that this was a massive hit in 2016 and thus the rule of thumb for that year applying for this track on this list, it's obvious that this was far more popular over there than it was over here likely due to the kiwi's nostalgia for Ashanti (or I supposed Aaradhna given she was far more successful over there) during the 00's which propelled its popularity for the British duo Snakehips.
It seems fitting that this EDM track from Clean bandit wasn't as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, after all, Anne Marie was a no name when it was released (as opposed to her already having two hits over here) in addition to EDM not being as popular over there as it is over here. Still, it was a massive hit for the British band as well as it getting them out of the one hit wonder bin over there.
This is arguably the first song to make it big worldwide purely through the strength of streaming, sure it did OK on the Australian digital charts (hence why it was quite popular here) however there's little doubt in my mind few if anyone would even remember this track were it not for how well it did on Spotify back in the day.
By now it should be obvious as to why every repeat entry from 2016 is going to be placed higher on this list than on the Australian equivalent, however it's also possible that the kiwis were genuinely interested in what Zayn was going to do now that he was no longer a member of 1D and that they were more impressed with the results than we Aussies were.
I'm honestly more surprised this wasn't a bigger hit here in Australia than it being higher on this list than its Australian counterpart, I know it wasn't officially released as a single until months after the album dropped, however I would've thought we Aussies would've bought the single in droves regardless which obviously wasn't the case. Much like everywhere else in the world, this was Adele's final hit until very recently in NZ.
Given how the bulk of this song's success came from the (admittedly terrible) music video that was cashing in on the Pokémon go craze, it being more popular in NZ makes more sense given how the kiwis were more interested in what was going on with what was popular on the internet rather than what was promoted to their radio and digital storefront like we Aussies were at the time.
Even though this was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Charlie Puth, it's worth noting that this song from his album came out much sooner over there than it did everywhere else in the world likely due to the success of his two earlier entries on this list. That's the best explanation for why this came out much sooner over there than it did in his native America.
This was as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because while it didn't chart as high over there as it did over here, it lingered around for quite some time which balanced its success out in both countries. The success these two had moving forward was the same over there as it was over here given how Zara scored a second hit immediately whereas MNEK had to wait five years for his second hit.
You'd think that this song would've been exponentially more successful in NZ given this came out in 2016, alas, it appears that it merely equally as popular over there as it was here despite it being a massive success on our streaming charts as well as our digital charts. I guess you can argue that the world had become tired of Nicki Minaj as this was her final hit until very recently where she's since scored another one.
It seems odd that Shawn Mendes would achieve far less success in NZ than he did in Australia this decade, mainly because his debut single from 2014 "Life of the party" was a moderate success over there that year (which we'll look at much later on this list.) I guess he was one of the many artists to make it big on our digital charts during the second half of the decade more so than our streaming charts.
This is one of the very few songs from 2016 to reappear on this list that appears lower than the Australian equivalent, I'm guessing this was because the kiwis were never that into EDM like we Aussies were and that this song from Alan Walker was only a success over there due to EDM being unavoidable everywhere else in the world.
Much like everywhere else in the world, this also remains the final hit from Sia to date in NZ as she would go on to make her directorial debut with the disastrous film Music on which the less said about it the better. This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia despite A: having a guest verse from Kendrick Lamar and B: it performing quite well on our streaming charts.
This is one of the very few songs from 2016 to do much better on our digital charts than on our streaming charts to appear on this list, naturally its lower placement on here means that streaming audiences worldwide didn't appreciate Calum Scott turning the Robyn EDM track into a sombre ballad like audiences in the real world did.
From what I can gather, this was the one and only hit from NZ rapper Kings which became a massive hit for him in his homeland due to how much buzz he had built up for himself leading up to his debut album. I guess he was meant to be the decade's equivalent of Scribe or even Savage which only worked out for him on this one song.
Like many other entries on this list from 2016, this was more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia due to it not having to compete with songs that dominated our digital charts that year like it did over here, this sadly didn't do anything to improve Zara Larsson's chances of scoring more hits over there as the decade went on which is a shame because she has an amazing voice (in my opinion.)
I was a bit surprised at how low this wound up being on the Australian equivalent of this list given how it was one of the most talked about songs from 2016 worldwide, I guess the bulk of the song's popularity came from watching people clown on it back in the day given how much more popular it was over in NZ where streaming had officially become the most popular way of consuming music.
I guess the kiwis were more interested in Charlie Puth's music if he was collaborating with someone given how this duet he made with Selena Gomez managed to be more popular over there than it was here in Australia. We can assume this was due to it being popular on our streaming charts, however that explanation doesn't justify why "One call away" wasn't a bigger hit for him over there.
This was slightly less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because it was an EDM track that did much better on our digital charts than on streaming which is the perfect combination for it performing better over here than it did over there. It remains Hailee Steinfeld's only hit over there despite her scoring several other hits down under as the decade went on, again only through digital sales.
I guess the kiwis also weren't prude when this was released as a single as just like here in Australia, it managed to become a huge hit for the Swedish producer despite (or perhaps because) of the cover art depicting someone's hand down their pants. Naturally this wasn't a song that was popular in America or the UK.
Starley is another Australian artist to find success internationally at the same time she found success at home, this is because she was based in the UK when she released her debut single which means that this being slightly more popular in NZ due to it being popular on our streaming charts makes complete sense to me.
It's little surprise to me that this achieved more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, after all, the Chainsmokers were massively big on streaming services during the second half of the decade and we Aussies still allowed songs that were big through digital sales to make it big on our charts which pushed aside these types of songs at the time.
Given how Suicide squad was one of the most popular films of 2016 (despite having a polarising reception) it makes sense that this posse cut commissioned for the film would be a massive success on streaming services which would explain why it did better in NZ than it did here in Australia. Of the people involved with this track, Logic, X Ambassadors and Ty Dolla $ign were the ones not to have success prior to its release.
This managed to achieve equal amounts of success in NZ as it did here in Australia, I guess it makes sense given how it had equal amounts of success on both our streaming and digital charts making it a well-balanced song from 2016 which is more than I can say for many entries on this list from that year. I'm sure had streaming not dominated the second half of the decade over there, all of his entries would be even higher on this list.
It really seems odd that Shawn Mendes would have far less success in NZ than he did here in Australia during the second half of the decade, granted this is mainly due to his success down under coming from strong digital sales as his music wasn't that popular when it came to streaming during his heyday. That means that fans chose to download this single which the internet continues to hate even to this day.
If you're wondering who Marc E Bassey is, he's a folk singer who only got his start with this song despite pushing thirty when it was released as a single. This became a success in NZ of all places likely due to the presence of G-Eazy who seemed to be on a roll over there given how many appearances he's had from around that time on this list.
This was also late to the party in NZ given how it only began charting months after what was supposed to be the twentieth anniversary from the original, however that didn't prevent the track from being even bigger over there than it was over here due to strong streaming numbers in both countries.
This is another song that did far better on our streaming services here in Australia than on our digital charts, so naturally it's improvement on this list doesn't surprise me in the slightest even if it's another EDM track to find more success in NZ than it did down under this decade. Admittedly, Martin did score a minor hit over there prior to this with "Animals" that failed to become a hit over here.
This was a genuine hit in NZ as opposed to it being a minor sleeper hit here in Australia, I guess the kiwis were able to tolerate the elongated vocals much better than we Aussies were given how that's the only difference on this track compared to the duo's other two hits we already looked at on this list. This is the only new entry of theirs on this side of my site as their popularity was confided to 2016 worldwide.
Much like most songs that were big in 2016, this was a much bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia due to it thriving on our streaming charts which means that it didn't have to compete with songs that were big on the digital charts over there like it did over here. This is the only other song from Calving Harris on this list to have him singing on the track given how "Summer" bombed over there.
I would've thought this would be so much bigger over in NZ than it was here in Australia, however it turns out this wasn't that big on our streaming services meaning that people genuinely liked the song that went along with the Mannequin challenge during the summer of 2016/2017 in Australia.
This was a massive hit for G-Eazy in NZ as opposed to "Him and I" which was his big hit here in Australia from later in the decade, I guess we Aussies and kiwis decided to only give him one hit as a leading artist with the kiwis deciding that this collaboration with Bebe Rexha would be his big hit over there whereas we Aussies going with his duet with his future girlfriend Halsey on "Him and I."
This was a slightly bigger hit for Ariana Grande in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly due to it being more of a success on the digital charts with the kiwis obviously streaming over digital sales by this point in time, I guess it could also be they were more forgiving of her real world controversies over us Aussies at the time but I like to think it's the former.
This is the only other hit that Selena Gomez had in NZ this decade, I'm guessing this was because the kiwis were more interested in her attempts at making a female equivalent of "Blurred lines" than anything else she put out as an adult (save for her collaboration with Marshmello from earlier on this list.) Naturally this ballad didn't sit as well with us Aussies because of its icky subject matter.
This proved to be way less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis felt that the age difference between the rapper and the singer was a bit too creepy for them to overlook the themes of the song given that it's a grown man duetting with a teenager on this track. At least it was a hit over there months prior to it finally taking off in their native America.
We Aussies really didn't care much for Nick Jonas as a solo artist did we? Fortunately, the kiwis certainly did as he manages to score a second appearance on this list of mine with the assistance of Tove Lo who also scores a second appearance on this side of my site with this duet with the former Disney star.
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this breakthrough single from Elle King as we Aussies were, although at least it was a success much earlier over there than it was over here given how it peaked during the summer period of 2015/2016 as opposed to only entering our charts in the latter year down under. She still remains a one hit wonder as of this writing as none of her other singles have become a success for her.
This was slightly more popular for the Chainsmokers in NZ than it was here in Australia, I can't stress my surprise that the duo managed to achieve far less success on streaming services down under with the material from their debut album as opposed to the material from their E.P. I'm not sure what happened with their online fanbase between the projects, but that explains the imbalance of their rankings on this list.
This is the final hit that Fifth harmony was able to score anywhere in the world, even then it was mainly a success through streaming rather than digital sales which explains its absence on the Australian side of my site. They recruit Fetty Wap to give this song a boost in the rap market similar to how "Worth it" had Kid ink on there.
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