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.
I guess there's little surprise this was the second biggest hit of the decade over in NZ, officially it was THE biggest hit of the decade worldwide given how it refused to die on Spotify in addition to Ed Sheeran having plenty of fans outside of the streaming service.
Much like the rest of the world, the kiwis only made this track a success for Ed Sheeran when he turned it into a duet with Beyonce of all people which helped it find its audience away from the album which was already a massive worldwide success by the time the duet was released as a single.
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.
There's little surprise this was a success for Post Malone over in NZ given how the kiwis have always been into this style of pseudo hip hop over the years, again I can't add anything more to this entry that I didn't already cover on the Australian side of this site.
Again, this song's success over in NZ should come as no surprise given how even we Aussies were impressed with a live rendition of this track which compelled Post's label to authorise it as a single (without releasing it as such mind you) a full year after the release of the album it came from.
It looks like the kiwis were also fans of Fifth Harmony because of Camila Cabello, the Hispanic member of the group was able to win over the kiwis following her departure from the quintet with this song about how proud she is that she was originally from Cuba's capital city much like the rest of the world was.
This is another example of a song being equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, right down to it being an outlier as you'd think with the Zumba craze still being in full swing (and more specifically, instructors using Spotify's playlists to conduct their sessions) would allow more reggaeton tracks to become successful outside of America like they were on Billboard.
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.
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.
Given how EDM was never quite as popular as RNB over in NZ, it makes sense that this wasn't Khalid's biggest hit over there given how this is by far Marshmello's biggest hit over there due to the presence of the RNB singer. In fact, his only other appearances on this list will be his collaboration with Bastille and Anne Marie, proving how little the kiwis cared about the anthropomorphic marshmallow.
Unlike in Australia where Dua Lipa had success prior to her Billboard breakthrough, this was likely the kiwi's introduction to her music as apart from her collaboration with Martin Garrix (which we'll revisit much later on this list) none of her earlier work managed to make it big over there like it did in Australia and throughout Europe.
Honestly, I'm surprised this wasn't even bigger in NZ considering how this type of hip hop would dominate the NZ charts back in the 90's (as you no doubt know if you've read those lists of mine.) Even so, this was a bigger hit over there than it was over here given how Kendrick Lamar was a massive critical darling in the hip hop scene throughout the decade with his music.
It doesn't really surprise me that the kiwis found more love for this posse cut than us Aussies, mainly because with the exception of Bieber, every man on this track had more success over there throughout the decade than they did here which makes this a bit of an event for them there where that wasn't the case here.
It was inevitable that this remix of Khalid's signature track from his breakthrough album would be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, at this point, I would've been surprised if any of his entries (barring the ones where he's the featured artist of course) were less successful over there as they were over here.
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this second single from Imagine Dragons as we Aussies were, although it's worth noting that the bulk of this song's popularity down under came from it being one of the biggest hits on our digital charts of the decade, so perhaps those charts in NZ not having any presence over there explains why this wasn't as successful as it was here.
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 was the lead single to Six60's third album, it was a massive hit for the band as was most of their catalogue this decade thanks to their unique blending of pop and reggae that they brought to each of their massive hits.
*apologies for the lack of album art for this entry, this is "Don't give up" if you couldn't tell from my commentary*
It looks like the kiwis were more impressed with this song and its video than us Aussies were given how much more popular it was for Maroon 5 and Sza at the time of its release over there, again we can thank how well it did on streaming internationally for why it became a bigger hit for the band over there than it was over here
Something I noticed why constructing this list is that songs that did very well on the Australian digital charts during the second half of the decade (yes, I went through them) weren't nearly as successful in NZ as they were down under. This third single from Ed's third album was a prime example of that as it was a huge success on our digital charts and not so much on our streaming charts.
I guess the kiwis really weren't that interested in listening to this heartfelt track about how Ed Sheeran misses his friends from his childhood like we Aussies were, then again, this was another song that did quite well on our digital charts back in the day, so perhaps it was simply overshadowed by other songs that dominated their streaming charts over there.
I guess the kiwis weren't as interested in Macklemore's career following the success of his debut album with Ryan Lewis as us Aussies were this decade, although he did manage to find considerable success without his partner in crime with this track featuring Skyler Grey over there likely due to it being a tribute to his fallen friends he knew throughout his lifetime.
This being much more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia would've been a surprise were it not for the fact that this wound up being the bigger hit in his native America than his earlier entry on this list, I guess his fellow Americans felt that the bass on that track was too overpowering as opposed to this being much more pleasant to listen to which resulted in this being the big chart topper on Billboard.
Naturally this was going to be an even bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia given how A: this was more popular on our streaming charts than our digital charts and B: this is the type of hip hop that would thrive over there despite being unpopular over here throughout the years.
This is the one hit from Sam Smith that wasn't more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because Sam wasn't among the biggest artists on Spotify streaming throughout the decade (although it's easy to think otherwise based on this list) which means his popularity was equally as successful over there as it was over here.
This is another song that thrived on our digital charts upon its initial release, so naturally it wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was over here even though I would've thought this was also a massive hit on streaming due to its usage in commercials at the time. Much like the rest of the world, this was the one and only hit for Portugal the man over there likely because of its success in said commercials.
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 another song that wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia due to it being inescapable on our digital charts upon its initial release, I guess this means that the success of both Coldplay and the Chainsmokers was organic given how people paid money to download their songs as opposed to simply listening to their music on streaming platforms for free.
I would say that the kiwis were less interested in this theme from the second film in the Fifty shades franchise, except its popularity was more due to it being a team up of Zayn and Taylor Swift, meaning that this song wasn't available on streaming services due to the latter's insistence of not having her catalogue on Spotify until she changed her mind several months after this song's success worldwide.
With the obvious exception of Zayn with the previous entry on this list, all of the solo material from the former members of 1D will be appearing much lower on this list than they did on the Australian equivalent, this entry from Liam of course being the biggest of the bunch given that it did reasonably well on streaming as well as it being a massive success on the digital charts back in the day.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise that this was more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, between this being a posse cut from artists more successful over there to it being more popular on our streaming charts than our digital charts and all.
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.
Katy Perry should count her blessings that this was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, otherwise her final hit over there would've been with "Dark horse" from four years prior given how the kiwis widely rejected her album Witness due to them feeling that it was little more than Twitter pandering much like most of the album's detractors from the rest of the world.
This is a song that failed to become a hit here in Australia, I'm guessing because our streaming services weren't strong enough to have this debut single from Khalid be a success like it was over in NZ upon its initial release. Indeed, this was a sleeper hit over there, suggesting he didn't initially connect with them until several months after its initial release.
Given how this was far more popular on our streaming services in Australia than our digital storefront upon its initial release, it makes sense that this song based on the sorry not sorry meme would be more of a success in NZ for Demi Lovato especially considering how she saw minor success earlier in the decade over there.
This was released around the time that "I fall apart" went viral on the internet, meaning that we Aussies passed up what was supposed to be the second single from Post Malone's sophomore album in favour of that track as opposed to the kiwis who were able to juggle multiple tracks from the rapper/singer at the same time which allowed this to become a hit for him over there.
With all of the entries on this list that have appeared higher due to them being successful on our streaming charts, you'd think that NF would follow in that vein with his one and only hit (as of this writing of course.) Alas it appears the kiwis weren't as interested in his brand of Christian hip hop as this manages to appear slightly lower on this list than on its Australian counterpart.
I'm a bit surprised that Disney hasn't had much luck with their original songs from their animated films (side note, I still love their animated movies as my hatred towards the company comes from their live action movies and despicable corporate practices) although at least the theme song from Moana was a massive hit over in NZ likely due to the film honouring NZ heritage and thus appealing better to the kiwis.
Given how this was another song to be more popular on our streaming charts than our digital charts, it only makes sense that it was a bigger hit for Charlie Puth over in NZ given how the kiwis were more interested on what they could stream rather than what was getting played on their radio at the time.
Whereas the other hit that Calvin Harris had in 2017 from earlier on this list was only able to match its success in NZ as opposed to have more than what it achieved here in Australia, the first hit he released that year managed to be more popular over there than it was over here likely due to the presence of Frank Ocean who had a massive hit over there earlier in the decade with a song still to come on this list.
This wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because this was a huge hit on our digital charts for Kygo and Selena Gomez which means that it had little chance of competing with many of the earlier entries on this list over there due to it not having strong streaming data worldwide.
Given how his other singles were more successful in NZ than they were in Australia, it makes sense that this second single from Abel's album Starboy would follow suit in that regard even if once again, it was a song during the second half of the decade that was equally as popular over there than it was over here despite having strong streaming data on our charts.
This is a song that suffered massively in this ranking due to it being more of a hit on the digital charts worldwide rather than on streaming services, although it could also be that the kiwis were quickly growing tired of Shawn Mendes by this point in his career only to give him a second change once he released the advanced single from his fourth album by the end of the decade.
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.
Whilst we Aussies had given up on Jason Derulo by this point in his career (at least temporarily we did) the kiwis certainly hadn't as he managed to score a massive hit with this track likely due to the assistance he received from Nicki Minaj and Ty Dollar Sign (what kind of a hip-hop name is that?) This is another song to make it big throughout the 2010's to be widely mocked online by music critics.
Bet you thought that Pitbull stopped having hits once "Time of our lives" was released in 2015, didn't you? It turns out the kiwis gave him one more hit two years later along with Stephen Marley (one of the many sons of reggae legend Bob Marley) with this reggae track the two made with each other.
This also proved to be far less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, again because it was a massive hit on our digital charts as opposed to our streaming services which suggests that few if anyone was streaming this theme Zayn made for a film that few if anyone even watched back in the day.
I would say that the kiwis found this song too silly to enjoy unironically (what does he mean when he says, "like sweat dripping down our dirty laundry?") however I get the feeling it was more due to this song being a huge success on our digital charts at a time where that format had little to no impact on the NZ charts that this song appears so much lower on this list than it does on the Australian equivalent.
This wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, again this was due to it being more of a hit on our streaming services down under, but it could also be that the kiwis were unfamiliar with who Jonas Blue was given how the Collective failed to chart at all over there during their time together. At least it managed to be a hit over there unlike the fourth single Jonas Blue had here down under.
Much like here in Australia, this was the last the kiwis had heard from David Guetta until very recently where a song from around this time with Bebe Rexha of all people randomly began to catch on worldwide which means that the planned obituary I had for his career no longer applies to this entry. It was going to read how JB killed his career due to the French DJ allowing the Canadian singer to work with him.
I guess the kiwis wanted to make an exception to having Selena Gomez score a hit during the second half of the decade over there with this collaboration she had with Marshmello, then again, I'm still not sure why he allowed her to have the top credit on this track considering how he was the lead artist on the rest of his catalogue. Still their compromise for this being a hit didn't go as far as it being as big over here.
This managed to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, this is odd because this was a massive hit on our streaming charts which means you'd think it would've been even bigger over there than it was over here. I supposed the kiwis couldn't take the song seriously due to Logic's clear lack of understanding with the subject matter on the track.
This is another song that suffered in the rankings due to being more popular on our digital charts rather than on streaming, as such, it wasn't able to compete with many of its contemporaries from around the time of its release in NZ due to it not having a strong presence on streaming platforms anywhere in the world.
This will be the only appearance from Future on this site of mine given how the rapper never saw much success outside of his native America throughout his career, indeed I feel like this was only a hit in NZ due to the kiwis feeling a bit of guilt for making "Panda" a huge hit over there despite Desiigner clearly being a rip off of the rapper.
It looks like Andy Grammar needed to move away from country music in order to find success in NZ just like he did here in Australia, although given how this was more of a hit on our digital charts than on our streaming services (not by much though) it proved to be less popular over there than it was over here for the country singer.
You'd think this lead single to Lorde's second album would've done better in her homeland than it did here in Australia, granted this did better on our digital charts than on streaming over here, however you'd think the kiwis supporting their local artists would've ensured that she would've thrived over there regardless of her not being popular on streaming services.
Given how streaming was far more prevalent in NZ during the second half of the decade than it was here in Australia, it makes sense that this track from Drake's "playlist" More life would be even more successful over there than it was over here. That said, there aren't any new entries on this list from the Canadian rapper, suggesting the kiwis weren't that impressed with his output either.
It appears that the kiwis weren't as big of fans of Julia Michaels as we Aussies were, admittedly this was more of a hit on our digital charts so this could once again be the result of their streaming platforms pushing this aside in favour of the other songs from 2017 that outrank this track. Much like everywhere else in the world, she remains a one hit wonder over there with this track likely due to her vocals receiving widespread ridicule online.
This actually did better on this ranking than I thought considering there was a massive controversy when this first came out involving Harry's label forgetting to put it up on streaming services which supposedly denied it a chart-topping debut in several countries in the world. Naturally it's success here in Australia was through digital sales given how it's the type of throwback single that would appeal to that demographic.
This was slightly less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for Miley Cyrus, mainly because it was a hit through digital sales rather than streaming which suggests audiences outside the internet were a bit wary with her embracing her country roots on this track. This would explain why (until very recently) this was her final hit over there despite her scoring success here in Australia after this.
I guess the kiwis were only as curious at JB having an EDM hit as the lead artist as we Aussies were, that is to say, it was a success over there due to his name recognition and not so much because they felt it was a necessary addition to his catalogue or indeed the EDM genre as a whole.
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this collaboration between Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson as we Aussies were, although admittedly this was far more of a success on our digital charts so perhaps they did buy this song in droves even if it wasn't pushed on streaming services as hard as it could've been. This would be the final hit for both parties over there as neither would trouble their charts again.
I wouldn't have thought that that Chainsmokers of all groups would find more success on the digital charts during the second half of the decade than on streaming services, that's the explanation for why their final two hits found much less success in NZ than they did here in Australia as these two songs didn't do so well on streaming services back in the day.
This didn't see as much of an improvement on this ranking as Martin's earlier entry on this list, I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with having Dua Lipa as a household name even with the assistance of the Dutch producer as we Aussies were which makes her eventual breakthrough over there that much more heartwarming once it happened.
This proved to be equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Taylor Swift, although let's face it, if it wasn't for the fact that she had put her entire catalogue back on Spotify mere months prior to when she released this critically panned track, I doubt this would've even charted over there since it became an instant meme the minute it was released into the world.
This is to date the only hit single that Machine gun Kelly has had outside of his native America, although the rapper turned rocker likely has Camila Cabello to thank for this song's success given how this was the first thing she released following her departure from Fifth harmony. Her solo success here in Australia wouldn't come until she released "Havana" from earlier on this list.
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