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.
Given how Ed Sheeran's entry was the biggest hit of all time until Tones and I came along, this means that this theme from Sony's Into the spider verse didn't steal that crown from the previous entry in NZ like it did here in Australia even though it came very close during its chart run.
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.
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.
This posse cut was also rather successful in NZ like it was here in Australia, mainly because Khalid was even more popular over there than he was over here due to him being an RNB star during a time where RNB was more popular than ever in NZ. Halsey was also quite popular, although nowhere near like she was over here.
There's little surprise that this would be the song that brought Lady Gaga's career back to life after two albums that were massive failures for her throughout the decade worldwide, indeed this Oscar winning ballad of hers didn't even need to rebound on the charts in NZ when it became as such given how much the kiwis loved this collaboration with her A star is born costar Bradley Cooper.
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 wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for George Ezra, I'm guessing because it was a massive hit on our digital charts as well as our streaming charts which would explain why it managed to be so inescapable over here as opposed to over there where their digital charts had no impact on their main charts.
I guess you can argue that 5SOS being an Australian band was why this comeback of theirs wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, even so, it was still one of the biggest songs of the decade over there due to how much overplay it received in both countries. Who knows if this is the last we'll hear from the band, after all, this came after a three-year absence from the mainstream.
Again, this was mainly a success in NZ thanks to Drake monopolising the Spotify playlists throughout the second half of the decade which resulted in most (if not all) of his entries since 2016 being a success purely through people streaming the songs on playlists rather than them seeking out the songs. Granted, he does have his fans, however I doubt his fanbase is big enough to justify the success of these songs organically.
This was another predictable hit for Maroon 5 worldwide given how it was an album track repurposed as a feminist anthem complete with a guest verse from Cardi B, naturally it was a hit in NZ like it was everywhere else in the world because of these elements.
I guess the kiwis weren't as in love with Halsey as we Aussies were, admittedly she was a fan favourite by listeners of Triple J so perhaps that's why this breakup ballad from her where she interpolates "Cry me a river" from Justin Timberlake about her relationship with G-Eazy was more successful here than it was over there. It could also be that the kiwis knew who the rapper was given he had a hit as a lead artist prior to them dating over there.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Khalid was more popular over in NZ than he was here in Australia, after all, RNB was always more popular over there than it was over here even in recent years as we Aussies have become more receptive to the genre. Still, it is impressive with how much more popular the singer is over there considering he got his big breakthrough down under due to exposure from Triple J.
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.
I guess it was due to the video that this managed to be a worldwide success for Ariana Grande as the rest of the album this was named after proved to be rather controversial for the pop star upon its initial release. She has since released another album which showcases a more mature side of her, however it wasn't nearly as successful as this was.
Well, here's the final hit that Marshmello had over in NZ, it was mainly for Bastille given how the British band did have success over there from earlier in the decade. I like to think this wasn't as big over there as it was over here because the kiwis didn't want to be emotionally manipulated by the music video, it's been widely criticised for doing so which tarnishes an otherwise decent song.
Naturally this was also a bigger hit for both parties involved in NZ than it was here in Australia, this makes sense given how both Khalid and Normani found more success over there with their respective careers for reasons I've already gone over on this list.
This is another song that became a success the exact same way in NZ as it was here in Australia, heck it even rebounded on the charts once Drake's verse was added to the official version, proving once again how homogenised the music scene was worldwide this decade. That said, it proved to be far less successful over there than it was over here for the rapper.
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.
This is another song that found equal amount of success in both countries in the southern hemisphere, as such there's little more I can say about this track that I didn't already cover on the Australian side of this site.
I guess Drake was able to achieve more success with the singles from Scorpion over in NZ than I thought as this second advanced single from the album proved to be more popular over there than it was over here for the Canadian rapper. Perhaps it was due to the female empowerment angle that the song and especially the music video went with that helped it connect with the kiwis more so than us Aussies.
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
This is a song that was far more popular on our digital charts than our streaming charts here in Australia, so naturally it not being as successful in NZ does make sense as the kiwis obviously no longer cared about digital sales by the time it was released in 2017. I wonder if this lasting almost a whole year at number one on the Billboard country charts was a result of digital sales or not.
While this wasn't anywhere near as popular in NZ as it was in Australia, the fact that Dean Lewis was able to find this much success over there was impressive considering A: he was an Australian artist during the age of Spotify streaming and B: he was an indie artist who got his initial popularity here thanks to heavy endorsement from Triple J. As such, this became a massive worldwide hit for the folk singer.
Even though this appears much lower on the list compared to "Psycho," it wound up lasting much longer on their charts (albeit on the lower half hence is lower placement) which means this unofficial single from Post Malone proved to be more successful over there than his earlier entry on this list.
This is another song that did quite well on our digital charts, so it not being as successful in NZ does make sense to me given how digital sales still had some impact on our charts even during the final stretch of the decade as opposed to NZ where that clearly wasn't the case.
It appears that the kiwis were more on board with Billie Eilish during her initial breakthrough than we Aussies were, as such, this lead single to her debut album was much more of a success over there albeit for the same reasons it was a hit here in Australia given how it rebounded once the album dropped months after its initial release.
It makes sense that this wasn't as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia given how it's (to date) the only hit single from a Canadian EDM group to make it big over there, the last stretch of the decade was filled with EDM tracks down under, so naturally some of them would crossover to NZ regardless of how they would fit in their music scene.
Although she didn't manage to score any more appearances on this list than she did on the Australian version, Cardi B can at least take comfort in the fact that her one and only entry as a lead artist was way more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia likely due to its success coming from streaming rather than sales which meant that it was pushed aside here in favour of those that were big in both categories.
Much like their previous entry on this list, this also was a massive hit from Six60's E.P they named after themselves during the height of the streaming age, as such, there's overwhelming evidence that the band were able to make a deal with the likes of Spotify to have their songs be on the playlists of every curated list albeit only in NZ as they've still yet to crossover worldwide.
*apologies for the lack of album art for this entry, this is "Vibes" if you couldn't tell from my commentary*
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.
This didn't even chart over here in Australia, I'm not sure why as there have been far more vulgar songs to make it big throughout the decade and it's not like we had a rule against having Tyga on our charts over the years (that I'm aware of at least.) It was a huge success in NZ and their native America likely due to it being a massive hit on streaming charts internationally.
I would say that the kiwis didn't appreciate this song about how good everything was in the respective lives of everyone on the track as we Aussies did, except this song did far better on our digital charts rather than on streaming which would better explain why it wasn't as popular over there as it was over here. It could also be all three artists involved were more popular here anyway than they were over there.
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Dua Lipa, I guess this is because the kiwis had finally warmed up to her music much like the Americans did as this was also her second hit over on Billboard for her. It seems bizarre that she would struggle for so long to find success in both countries given how inescapably popular she is worldwide at the moment.
Given this was a song that was far more popular on our digital charts than our streaming services, it makes sense that this collaboration between Calvin Harris and Sam Smith wasn't as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, making this the only song from Sam to find less success with the kiwis than with us Aussies this decade.
This was naturally going to be more successful over in NZ than it was here in Australia due to the reasons I've repeated several times on this list already, it wasn't a huge success on our digital charts is all I really need to say about this entry.
Much like here in Australia, this was a hit twice for the troubled up and coming rapper in NZ, which means that the reason for its popularity over there was identical to what it was worldwide and only appears higher on this list due to it thriving on the streaming charts worldwide.
This is another song from the second half of the decade to see a massive improvement on this list compared to its Australian equivalent due to streaming being more prevalent over there than it was over here, it was inevitable given how this is a remix of a track from 24K magic that featured Cardi B provide a guest verse to give extra credibility for it being ripped straight from the new jack swing era of music.
You'd think this collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and Sza would be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, sure it did well on our digital charts, however it did even better on our streaming charts which should be surefire proof that this was popular with the masses both online and in the real world. Alas it was only equally as successful over there likely strictly due to their love of Black panther.
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.
Well, this is certainly a surprise, mainly because I wasn't expecting to see a song from Drake do considerably worse over in NZ than it did here in Australia especially when it comes to a song that had an internet challenge attached to it. This will be the most recent entry from Aubery on this list as "Money in the grave" wasn't as big a hit over there as it was over here.
It looks like the kiwis were big fans of the 13 reasons why soundtrack as this duet between Billie Eilish and Khalid managed to become even more popular over there than it was on our streaming charts upon its initial release, it could also be due to Khalid's popularity over there as this was the case for all of his earlier entries on this list.
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 think this is the first song to make it big worldwide purely through Tik Tok given how it was so widely mocked upon its initial release that early users of the site decided to parody it on there which made for ironic engagement with the track. Naturally this meant that the song was more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia as people still bought music over here during the 2010's.
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Marshmello and Anne Marie, likely because people followed the advice they gave their audience by sending people a link to the video who they wanted to friendzone which quickly made it one of the most despised songs in recent memory. This was the only hit that she had as well as the final appearance that he will have on this list of mine.
One thing I'll add to this entry on this site of my site was that its popularity worldwide came from streaming, naturally that was the case for all songs that became a success despite no one seemingly liking them this decade.
This being considerably less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia is a bit of a surprise to me, mainly because it did equally as well on our streaming charts as it did on our digital charts which suggests that its popularity over there should've matched its popularity here. I guess the kiwis were fed up with both men on the track when it was released as well as the album it came from being panned.
This was another song that did much better on our digital charts than our streaming charts, so naturally it didn't do as well over in NZ for the three artists in question despite it being everywhere on the radio and especially TV commercials upon its initial release. None of the artists in question have had a hit since this collaboration, however I doubt this will be the last we hear from any of them.
Well, I would've been downright stupefied had this posse cut not being more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia given how it was a huge hit on streaming as well as everyone involved being more popular with the kiwis than they were with us Aussies.
Whereas "Promises" at least had the presence of Sam Smith to not be too much of a disappointment on this ranking compared to the Australian equivalent, I guess the presence of Dua Lipa meant that this would suffer in the rankings on this side of my site considerably more despite her finding massive success over there around this time. This being bigger on our digital charts can only explain so much for the rankings.
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.
Given how this song was built specifically to be a meme (it premiered at an award show for porn after all) it's only fitting that its popularity would come from streaming services rather than anyone buying it which is why this was able to appear slightly higher on this list than on the Australian counterpart.
It appears Ariana Grande made more of a statement with feminists in NZ than she did here in Australia given how this outranks "No tears left to cry" on this side of my site (not by much though) both songs were popular on our streaming charts, however that was also popular on our digital charts which would explain its lower placement on this list.
I'm a bit surprised to see this on here given how it was only a success here in Australia on our digital charts, I guess the kiwis had a strong digital presence on their charts after all as this admittedly did fail to crack their top ten over there and only made it on here due to a massive run in their top twenty charts.
Kodak Black is one of the most controversial rappers of the decade, mainly due to allegations of sexual misconduct which he frequently references in his songs that tend to rub people the wrong way. This is the only song of his to have any success outside his native America as he recruits Travis Scott and Offset from Migos to create a posse cut that the kiwis were able to enjoy.
I guess the kiwis were less impressed with this second solo single from Camilla Cabello compared to us Aussies, although this is yet another song that was more of a hit on our digital charts than on streaming, so perhaps they just didn't find enough love on their streaming services for this ballad for it to compete with all of the other big players on those services at the time.
This was far less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, partially due to it being bigger on our digital charts than our streaming services but also likely due to the kiwis not being as interested in her redemption ark after a tumultuous decade like the rest of the world was. The kiwis would of course be more interested in this facet of her with "Thank u next" from earlier on this list.
There was no surprise that this was going to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, after all, the success of this track comes from the music video which many will tell you makes this song as effective as it is.
Given how this had become a meme the second it was released as a single, it only makes sense that this would be more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia given how streaming was naturally the main reason as to why it was a success in the first place.
I'm a bit shocked that this was less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing the kiwis weren't as big of fans of this phase of Abel's career than we Aussies were for this to be the case.
I really didn't want to include this collaboration between Nicki Minaj and 6ix9ine on this site (side note, what's with that awful rap name?) however, it appears the kiwis allowed it to become enough of a success back in the day for it to qualify for this site likely due to the controversy that it stirred up upon its initial release worldwide.
This is another song that barely missed the cut on the Australian side of this site due to its success being overshadowed by us Aussies still buying digital downloads of songs back in the day, however this wasn't the case in NZ where this managed to be a moderate success over there against the wishes of the two deceased artists who reportedly despised each other during their respective lifetimes.
Even though it was better received than his previous album Revival, Kamikaze was only able to spawn one hit for Eminem which was this track that didn't even receive a proper single release despite there being a music video for it.
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