I suppose I should include a ranking for songs from the second half of the 00's given how I've done one of these lists for every other time period I've covered on this site, as you'll quickly find out, these entries stuck around for quite some time to the point that many would outrank some of the biggest albums of all time in Australia through this metric. Also don't ask me to do a list like this for the 2010's and beyond, quite frankly I don't want to as many songs frequently re-enter the charts thanks to digital downloads and ESPECIALLY streaming. Heck I've had to impose a cutoff point of the final week of 2010 for each entry on this list for the sake of my sanity.
Also, the commentary from this list is a combination of those found on my biggest digital hits list as well as the main lists for entries that failed to appear on that list.
It's little surprise this debut single from the Ting Tings achieved more success through digital downloads than as a physical single considering A: it was from a rock band and B: it seemed to be tailor made for commercial fodder which explains the success of the few rock tracks from the 2010's worldwide.
39 weeks
It feels a little weird that this was so much less successful on the digital charts than it was as a physical release, although this wouldn't feel too out of place as a single from Nelly's debut album which suggests that she wouldn't have had much success on that format had it existed earlier in the decade here in Australia.
While this wasn't as big on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, the fact that it still comfortably makes this list does suggest that it's possible Sean Paul would've had bigger success down under had ARIA bothered to track digital sales during the first half of the decade.
Well, I hope you're ready to see a bunch of tracks from the emo rock of the mid to late 00's on this list because there's a ton of them, by far the most successful was this second single from Good Charlotte's fourth album which greatly benefitted from digital sales worldwide as well as it being their biggest hit here in Australia due to strong physical sales.
Well, this was certainly an improvement on this ranking, especially considering how Ricki Lee began her career on Australian Idol which makes this the second highest entry from a former Australian idol contestant behind Guy Sebastian's earlier entry on this list.
I'm a bit surprised that Gwen Stefani didn't do better on our digital charts back in the day, although the bulk of her hatedom would've been those who felt betrayed by her selling out from her time with No doubt so perhaps there was little chance she would do better on that format back in the day after all.
This lead single to the Veronicas second album proved to be more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, this is what I meant when I said earlier I was surprised that "Untouched" wasn't an even bigger hit on that format than it was as the girls effortlessly appealed to the market that was fueling our digital charts back in the day.
This may have been a hit for Last goodnight right before they decided to call it quits, however the band can at least take comfort in the fact that it was more of a hit here in Australia on our digital charts than as a physical release, meaning that it was more popular with the those who were into the likes of Panic! at the disco and Fall out boy than those who were into reality TV.
I have a feeling that Linkin Park would've greatly benefitted from digital sales during the first half of the decade here considering how both of their big hits during the second half of the decade did considerably better on our digital charts than they did as physical releases.
38 weeks
This is another song that has more than one version of it to become popular back in the day, that explains why it didn't do as well on our digital charts given how the second version of it (I'm guessing an even more tasteless version than the one we all know) managed to become a minor hit around the time this was popular.
While this did very well on our digital charts back in the day, it's a bit disheartening to see that most of its success came from people buying physical copies of it, suggesting that few people found the song problematic back in the day like the world certainly does now.
This is the last song to be released that was initially denied access to our main charts due to lacking a physical release, naturally this meant the song would be much more popular on our digital charts than our main charts as many of its contemporaries at the time were able to chart without a physical release.
37 weeks
Folk music is another format that benefitted on our digital charts during the second half of the decade, as such it's little surprise that this one and only hit from Plain white T's managed to be even more successful on that format than it was on our main charts and indeed our physical charts back in the day.
As far as I can tell, this is the only version of this track that exists meaning that it was less popular on our digital charts as it was as a physical release despite being the perfect candidate for a song that would've done better on the former's format given how it was a rock track with an in-demand rapper.
Much like the majority of P!nk's songs even since her fourth album, this managed to be far more popular on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts, further proving that Australia's love for her came mostly from our digital storefront as opposed to physical sales. It's also proof that she would've greatly benefitted from the storefront had it existed during the first half of the decade.
I would've thought Kate Miller Heidke would've found more success with her songs on our digital charts this decade given her brand of quirkiness seems to be in line with many of the entries on this list that saw more success on that format than on our main charts, alas her one and only hit was merely as successful there as it was as a physical release.
It's strange how people have labeled the Script as music for our mothers considering how much more successful they were on our digital charts than they were on physical media, although it's possible that the mothers of the world were hip to the format given how popular the likes of Leona Lewis and P!nk were early on from its inception.
While this was equally as successful on our main charts as it was on our digital charts, the fact that it was such a success on the latter suggests that Michael Bublé would've achieved far greatest success throughout the decade (despite being considered music for our mothers) had the digital storefront existed during the album cycle of his first two albums.
36 weeks
I guess it was about time I featured a Powderfinger track on this site, they were indeed one of the biggest bands of the decade here in Australia and no doubt would've had other appearances on here had digital downloads been legal during the first half of the decade. As such, we have their lead single to their third album of the decade which was more of a sombre ballad compared to their earlier work.
This is another song whose success was largely due to the digital charts, although Linkin Park weren't that negatively affected by piracy throughout the decade here in Australia as their multiple appearances on this site can attest to. In any case, we have this third single from their third album which continued their trajectory towards more mainstream rock compared to their nu metal roots from their earlier work.
I honestly would've thought this was a success through digital downloads and not physical sales, alas it appears to be the other way around as Ne-Yo was far more popular with his physical entries here in Australia than he was on our digital storefront.
This proved to be slightly more popular for Lily Allen on our digital charts likely due to it skyrocketing on there once the video dropped as opposed to our main charts where it already had some of its success prior to the release of the video due to it being released here sooner than it was in her native UK for some reason.
Although it was rather late in crossing over here in Australia, at least this one and only hit from Colbie Caillat managed to be more of a success on our digital charts than as a physical single, likely because it was a song whose popularity initially stemmed from Myspace like so many other entries on this list.
These guys were pretty huge on the airwaves throughout the decade here in Australia, so much so that it's less of a surprise that this is on here and more that none of their other tracks from the 00's are as they were very likely flops due to having their success eaten up by illegal downloads which wasn't the case for this track.
This is the only song from Beyonce to find more success on our digital charts than our main charts, I'm guessing because it was the final single to come from her album I am Sasha fierce which meant that its physical success was slightly hampered due to it coming from an album that was already highly successful by the time it was released.
It looked like Guy Sebastian wasn't going to make the transition to the digital age in music given how the singles from his third album completely flopped on those charts, indeed this lead single to his fifth album was far less popular in that format than it was as a physical release.
This was equally as popular on our digital storefront as it was as a physical single, I guess this makes sense given how it fits both as a club banger as well as an alternative rock track much like La roux's entry from the main list. It's a shame these guys remain a one hit wonder to this day despite massive attempts at escaping the one hit wonder bin.
35 weeks
This is the last hit that Jessica Simpson had in her career, mainly because this cover of the Nancy Sinatra classic serves as the theme song to the theatrical adaptation of the Dukes of hazard which was a critical failure due to its outdated depictions of the redneck culture. She happens to star in the film as Daisy Duke which earned her a Razzie for worst actress due to how bad her performance was.
There were no signs of Shannon Noll slowing down from his second album as he managed to have a huge hit with the title track from said album, in fact it looked like he had finally overtaken Guy Sebastian in the mainstream given how he would only have one hit to his name this year (which we've already looked at) from an album that wasn't anywhere near as successful as what Lift was.
This is the song that lasted the longest on the digital charts in this section, suggesting that it was an easy hit on that format given how it was released two months prior to when the charts were launched here in Australia. It's easy to see why this connected with the hipsters given that it has whistling throughout the track which was a common trend in alternative music at the time.
This saw a massive improvement in the rankings due to it being more of a sleeper hit here in Australia despite initially debuting high on our charts, I think this was the point where Good Charlotte was able to be taken more seriously in the mainstream which suggests their earlier catalogue may not have benefitted that much from digital sales unlike most other rock bands of the decade.
Given how every other song that appeared on this list and the one for the 2010's from BEP was equally as popular on the digital charts as they were on the main charts, it's little surprise that this third single from the E.N.D would follow suit in this regard.
It makes sense this would be more of a hit in our digital charts than as a physical release given how 80's nostalgia seemed to be more prevalent on our digital storefront than it was among those who still bought physical copies of songs, although the duo would still remain a one hit wonder worldwide with this track regardless of which format we're looking at.
It's a bit bizarre that this would be slightly less popular on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts given how well Pitbull would perform throughout the 2010's here in Australia, I guess those who consumed music through digital downloads were a bit more sceptical of him initially and grew to love him as the club boom raged on.
There were no signs of David Guetta slowing down entering the decade as he managed to score a third hit in a row from his breakthrough album, this time he recruits Kid Cudi who was fresh off the success he had with his own breakthrough "Day n night" from 2009 which is perhaps how he managed to maintain his winning streak across the world.
34 weeks
This was the second single to come from Christina Aguilera's Back to basics, it's a standards ballad that harkens back to the days of Vera Lynn that wasn't as appealing to audiences this year as her earlier entry on this list. It was a decent success for her, however the big hit off the album wouldn't come until the third single which was more of an Andrews sisters' tribute.
While I doubt Nickelback would've benefitted on our digital charts given how both "Far away" and "Saving me" didn't exactly dominate them upon their initial release, I doubt they would've been hindered by their presence either given how Chad Kroeger's collaboration with Santana was a huge success there like it was on our main charts.
It's odd that Mika failed to score a second hit in NZ considering how popular he was on our digital charts with his first album back in the day, I'm guessing the kiwis really didn't care for his precocious nature back in the day the way us Aussies did as their digital data was far stronger on their main charts than ours was over here.
Much like their earlier entry on this list, this also saw a massive improvement on our digital charts compared to how well it did as a physical release which goes to show that these guys always had appeal on our digital storefront regardless of which phase of their career we're referring to.
This is a song from Miley Cyrus that greatly benefitted from digital sales on our charts considering how much more successful it was on our storefront than it was as a physical release, not bad for a song that was initially released as a bonus track from her second Hannah Montana album.
Sara Barelles as another artist who I'm surprised didn't find more success on the digital charts during its run, although at least her debut single was more popular on the format than as a physical release likely due to it having sharper lyrics about label disputes that can easily be interpreted as her not justifying a bad relationship as a good one.
I would say this collaboration being a success on our digital charts was due to the presence of JT, except I have a feeling that those who bought music through digital sales were hungry for music from pop diva's given how Madonna's obvious successor Lady Gaga dominated in that format mere months after this became the queen of pop's final hit single anywhere in the world.
This is the last hit that Nickelback had here in Australia, although their popularity would extend to their 2011 album which was a huge success here despite it failing to spawn a hit single for them down under. The rest of the world had moved on from the band likely due to the internet making it impossible to defend their music.
As we saw throughout the 2010's, Chris Brown and all of his would-be successors to his role as the prince of RNB performed quite well on our digital charts, this breakthrough single from Jay Sean being no exception despite it coming our fairly late here in Australia compared to the rest of the world.
This was one of the earliest songs to become a success from the club boom, so naturally some of that success would come from the digital storefront given how that's what fueled the success of the club boom during the first stretch of the 2010's worldwide.
33 weeks
Although nostalgia was what gave these girls a massive hit with their debut single as a group (and indeed fuelled the success of their entire catalogue) that success was largely from audiences that weren't using the digital storefront given how much less successful this was as a digital track.
This song was quite popular on YouTube back in the day, although once again, YouTube data wasn't a factor when it came to digital sales meaning that just as many people downloaded the song as they did buy a physical copy of it.
There were two versions of this ballad floating around back in the day, this was obviously the single version as it charted prior to the release of Vanessa's comeback album. It appears the album version did take away enough of this version's success that it really struggled to make it on this bonus list of mine despite how inescapable it was on our airwaves.
I'm a bit surprised this wasn't a bigger hit for T.I on our digital charts considering A: it had Rihanna on the chorus and B: it was built around one of the earliest memes to come from the internet. I guess there was a certain sector of the digital storefront that considered this to be a bit lame which prevented it becoming as popular as it arguably should've been on there.
This is another song that saw equal amounts of success on our digital charts as it did on our physical charts, further proving that Rihanna was one of the hottest stars of her day regardless of how one would consume her music.
32 weeks
This had a high peak on the digital charts when they launched (making it have the highest peak position in this section) however it dropped fairly quickly soon after which suggests that the format launched right when this song was coming out of vogue in our music scene. It makes sense given how it had been out for two months once the format launched and that it came from a highly successful album.
Here we have a less controversial James from the UK scoring a massive worldwide hit with a folk ballad, in this case it's James Morrison who made it big with this ballad that would've appeared on the list proper had I allowed the stats from our digital charts to factor in the rankings for this list. It was one of the first songs to make it big down under thanks to the help of legal digital downloads.
This is one of the few songs on this list that arguably had its success through its music video, bearing in mind that YouTube data doesn't count towards digital sales which suggests people bought the song thanks to finding the song soundtracking the video to be worth their money.
Given this second single from Good girl gone bad had more of a rock edge to it, it's natural that it would be more of a success on our digital charts as it also had the benefit of not having its success eaten up by how popular the album was on that format which is why it wasn't as big as a physical release down under.
I guess it's safe to say that Jessica Mauboy just wasn't as appealing to those who consumed music through digital downloads comparted to those who still bought physical copies of songs given how this also managed to have a lower placement on this list than it would had I made a list based on physical sales.
As much flak as the Twilight franchise has gotten over the years, few will argue that their soundtracks were that bad considering how well loved they remain to this day. The first film's soundtrack was among the most successful albums of the decade worldwide which led off with this track from Paramore who finally managed to score a hit outside their native America with this theme from the film.
This was a mere bonus entry on my 2008 list, which goes to show how much OneRepublic owe their success here in Australia to our digital storefront even if their earlier entry that Timbaland "presented" was a massive success as a physical release here.
31 weeks
To think this nearly didn't make the cut for this extended list of mine, although this does feel out of step with the rest of the girls catalogue, so perhaps the audience this appealed to wasn't among their main audience who likely felt alienated by these otherwise promiscuous women standing up for themselves on this track.
This was slightly bigger on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts, suggesting that TV rock were enjoyed more from those who consumed music through digital downloads rather than an audience that bought physical copies of their music.
There's little surprise that this would be more of a hit on our digital charts than as a physical release given how it seems to tick all of the boxes that allows a song to become a hit in that format during the second half of the decade, so much so that it makes you wonder why none of their other singles were big on that format.
You'd think this would've been far more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, alas it appears that the emo scene had become mainstream by the time these guys were able to cross over which admittedly was likely due to this being released two years after it first saw mainstream success.
I'm a bit surprised this didn't do even better on our digital charts given how well the Fray did on that format earlier in the decade, I guess rock music had once again been considered the dominant genre in the mainstream by the end of the decade which makes its exile from the mainstream in 2010 all the more puzzling to me.
Given how this was a victory single from a reality show (even if it wasn't from an Australian series) it makes sense that it wouldn't be as popular on our digital charts and was more of a hit through physical sales even if Jordin Sparks would go on to have more success in the former format with her subsequent follow ups.
I'm not sure if there's a version of this song without Flo Rida's guest verse, if there is, then it likely explains why this song wasn't as big on our digital charts as it was as a physical release despite the no rap version not charting on our digital charts back in the day. It could also be that Jessica Mauboy was simply more popular with her physical releases than she was on our storefront.
This is the oldest song on this list that also appears on my 2010 rankings, it was equally as popular as a physical release and a digital release likely due to the combined might of Katy Perry and 3oh!3 during the height of both of their popularity.
There's little surprise this was more popular as a digital track than it was as a physical single given how it seemed like the perfect anthem for the club boom coming from a rock band, two elements that seemed to go against the popular trend of songs that were bigger on our physical charts.
This also saw a massive improvement on this ranking compared to my hypothetical physical list, although perhaps not as much as some of the other entries on this list as its success on there is much closer to what it achieved through its physical sales here in Australia.
This was the third single from P!nk's Funhouse album, though it was a hit here in Australia, it's obvious that her audience was more interested in her moving on from her husband (despite the fact the two didn't end up getting a divorce) rather than begging him to take her back like she does on this track.
30 weeks
While not a teen pop track, it likely felt too much like her earlier material which was teen pop to our digital storefront.
This was more of a hit on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts, although considering how Evanescence were often regarded as an emo band (despite being more in line with nu metal) it makes sense that they would achieve most of their success on our digital storefront with this lead single to their second album.
Likely due to her being more of an early social media star than a singer, similar to how Paris Hilton didn't make the cut on this list.
50 cent was particularly not well received on our digital storefront even with the presence of JT on this track.
Although this was more of a success on our digital charts likely due to the presence of Kanye West, I'm surprised it wasn't even bigger considering that as far as I can tell, there isn't a version of this song that omits his guest verse and even if there was, it certainly didn't chart on there back in the day.
While this was late to the party here in Australia even on our digital charts, the fact that it fitted in nicely with the likes of Good Charlotte and Fall out boy allowed it to be far more popular on our storefront than it was as a physical release for the former nu metal band.
I did point out on the main list that T.I saw considerably less success on our digital charts than he did with his physical sales, although at least all three of his big hits he had here did make somewhat of an impact on our digital storefront back in the day which is more than I can say for most rappers of the day.
This was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, the only reason why this wasn't the case for her previous single "Perfect" was due to that having more than one version charting on our digital charts during the peak of its popularity. As such, that song won't be appearing on this list despite the main version coming close to making the cut.
It took five years to follow up their politically charged album American idiot, however once they did, Green day found that while they weren't as popular as they were earlier in the decade, they still had a massive fanbase that made the lead single to their album a massive worldwide success for them. Unfortunately, most of this fanbase wouldn't stick around for the 2010's where their popularity died out.
29 weeks
This was roughly as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, meaning that regardless of what format it was on, this controversial ballad managed to appeal to the masses back in the day here in Australia.
This is the final song to make this list that had multiple versions of it, of course this is the uncensored version as I don't recall anyone talking about the radio version which replaces the infamous "oh shit!'s" with "oh snap!'s" in the song. In this regard, it's difficult to say if this was the weakest song from Fergie on the format overall, but it's certainly far from the strongest.
Given that Akon will only have one appearance on this list (two if you count his earlier feature with David Guetta) it's a bit surprising how much more popular this debut single from Sean Kingston was on our digital charts given how he was frequently compared to the older RNB star back in the day.
I guess Nelly Furtado wasn't considered to be as hip an artist on our digital charts as she was with people who bought physical copies of their music given how this also managed to achieve less success from our storefront than it did on our main charts.
This was the third and final hit that Fedde Le Grand managed to achieve this year, this time it's with Danish singer Ida Corr, or more specifically a remix of a song from Ida Corr which saw no success even throughout Europe for her. Just like the other two songs on this list, this song's popularity was largely thanks to the video in where there were a bunch of clones of the singer participating in a big band.
This was only equally as successful on our digital charts as it was as a physical release for P!nk, I guess the success of her fourth album didn't impact the success of either of these two entries here in Australia despite it being the second bestselling album of the decade down under.
There's a good chance the Rogue Traders would've found more success on our digital storefront after all given how much more successful this solo debut from Natalie Bassingwaighte was on there compared to its physical release, although it's worth noting that this wasn't the case with her duet with Shannon Noll which won't be making a reappearance on this list.
This feels like a more sensible placement for this lead single to I am Sasha fierce given how the song it was bundled with here in Australia proved to be far more popular back in the day, although there was little chance that this was going to flop regardless of which format we're referring to despite its lyrics some find to be contentious.
Again, this song's appearance is more to fill up this list as every song that was likely a hit on the digital charts during the first stretch of 2006 likely came from 2005 which gives me the perfect opportunity to say something new about the 2009 stragglers that appeared on my 2010's list.
28 weeks
It looked like Madonna's career was done for when she released her ill-fated concept album American life in 2003, however she was able to brush over that disaster with her next album which was a throwback album to the disco era starting with this lead single that samples "Gimme gimme gimme" by Abba. It was a massive hit everywhere in the world except her native America where it was only a modest success.
This song would be higher on this list if ARIA incorporated their digital charts at the start of 2006 rather than in April of that year, as such, I can't say how much bigger it was during the first stretch of the year on that format given how there's no data that exists which can tell me.
Much like the previous entry, this was a hit fuelled by our collective nostalgia of the original, although I guess Natalie was also on a roll around this time thanks to her involvement with the Rogue traders as Shannon's absence on these lists of mine has been noticeable.
Given how this was a mere bonus entry on my 2006 list specifically for how well it did on our digital charts whilst still receiving a physical release so that it can chart on ARIA, it goes without saying that it would appear on this special list of mine in a respectable placement given how the band's previous single proved to be the most successful song on the format throughout the decade.
There was a rise in emo culture beginning from this year, so much so that the longtime band AFI who had been active for fifteen years at this point managed to finally score a hit here and in their native America (although it wasn't nearly as successful on Billboard as it was here in Australia.) They would be a one hit wonder with this track that I'm guessing was meant to be an homage to Meat loaf based on the video.
Akon was very unpopular on our digital format for some reason.
It's odd how this song that was only released in certain parts of the world wouldn't be as successful on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, I'm guessing her fanbase considered this as a collector's item which would explain why it did better on our physical charts than on our storefront.
This seems like it was made for the club boom about twelve months prior to when it officially launched by the end of the decade, as such it wasn't as big a hit for Usher here in Australia as it was internationally where this became almost as big as his earlier entries from the decade.
Britney's popularity on our digital charts was about the same as it was on our main charts (barring her earlier entry on this list of course) which means that regardless of what format we're looking at, she was further proof that pop divas were still very much welcome in the mainstream during the final stretch of the decade.
I would say that this was a success on our digital charts thanks to the success of Slumdog millionaire, except I feel the real reason this was a hit was due to the presence of the Pussycat dolls who indeed were on a roll on that format down under thanks to several of their entries that we'll revisit in a bit.
This is another track to have Kanye West on it, meaning it being more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts was to be expected. This is especially the case considering that Rihanna is also on here who was another artist that had more appeal on our digital storefront than she did with those who still bought physical copies of their music.
This feels like a precursor to "Last Friday night" as both songs have a similar subject matter to each other, although here Katy seems to be more sincere with how her bad behaviour throughout the track seems to have dire consequences on her wellbeing as opposed to the other song being a celebration of it (to say nothing about "This is how we do" from Prism.) It wasn't as big a hit for Katy in Australia, although its success was noticeable.
27 weeks
While it's not the oldest song on this list (that would of course be Kanye's entry from before) the fact this managed to still be in the top twenty for a while once the digital charts launched should tell you how much the hipsters loved James Blunt back in the day. Who knows how high this would be on the main charts if they launched during the peak of its popularity.
It's worth noting that "4ever" was pulled from shelves in order to encourage the success of the duo's second single as well as their album here in Australia, otherwise that would've easily been an even bigger success than it already was back in the day. Here we have said second single which was also a massive success for them back in the day and confirmed them as one of the hot new acts in the pop rock genre.
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