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.
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.
This was a modest sleeper hit here in Australia for Nickelback, mainly because it didn't benefit from digital sales when it was released but also due to it being the third single from a highly successful album.
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.
This is the other big hit that Dizzee rascal had here in Australia, although this time he teams up with Calvin Harris who managed to score his first hit not just as the producer but also as a featured artist who provide the chorus for the British rapper. Needless to say, that Calvin was the one who benefitted the most from this collaboration.
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.
This is the other hit that Muse had from their breakthrough album The resistance, it nearly cracked our top ten due to performing well on Triple J's year end list for 2009 at the start of the 2010's. This set up massive expectations for the band throughout the decade which they unfortunately failed to live up to.
This is the final hit that Jet scored in their career, admittedly it was a bit of a comeback for them due to their second album failing to spawn a hit for the band three years prior. For whatever reason, they've yet to release a fourth album as of this writing despite how popular they were during their heyday.
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 came close to making my digital list of the 00's, it didn't because it was too much of a sleeper hit to qualify for that list. This goes to show how close this was to making Kisschasy as big as the likes of Thirsty merc and Evermore given how this became a success around the time those two bands made it big.
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.
I did mention on the NZ side of my site that this was a hit through digital sales here in Australia, indeed it was even if it failed to appear on the upper echelons of our digital charts to qualify for that list of mine.
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.
It appears we Aussies were starting to become fed up with Kanye West by the end of the decade as we didn't gravitate towards his 808's and heartbreaks album like the rest of the world did, that said he did score a sleeper hit with its lead single here even if that was the full extent of its success down under.
As far as the rest of the world is concerned, this is the final hit that Fall out boy had in their career as nothing from the 2010's managed to become a hit for them like it did in their native America. That's probably for the best as I've heard nothing but horrible things about their output from that decade.
This was barely a hit for Flo Rida and Will I am here in Australia, it makes the cut due to its refusal to die on our charts like every other entry on this list. It of course did much better in their homeland where the former was on a roll following his top entry on this list.
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.
I guess there was a tradition for the runner up of a season of Australian idol to have the bigger hit than the winner, although in this case Lee Harding cheated as he released a two for one deal as he has an original song he wrote for the competition as well as cover on here. Don't feel too bad for the winner Kate as she had more success than him both solo and as a member of the Young divas.
To think this almost didn't make this list of mine, this should tell you how niche Gwen's audience was when it came to the internet as while she was a massive deal in the real world, those online had a harder time accepting the direction she took her music in following the demise of her band No doubt.
This will be the only appearance from John Butler Trio on the singles charts given how they were more of an albums band here in Australia during their run in the mainstream, although it's possible that "Zebra" was a much bigger hit that had its sales eaten up by digital piracy from earlier in the decade considering how much airplay that received back in the day from the band.
Given how Mika's other two entries on this list saw a massive improvement in the rankings compared to my hypothetical physical list, it only makes sense that the third single from his debut album would follow suit even if once again it was a massive flop in NZ where the kiwis had fully incorporated their digital data onto their main charts when it was released.
I guess this song suffering in the rankings of this list is the best proof anyone has that Delta's popularity during the first half of the decade was a tad exaggerated according to the charts, it was still a hit on our digital charts but noticeably less so compared to its physical sales.
This is another rock track to see a massive improvement on the rankings of this list compared to the hypothetical physical list, as such it's safe to assume that Maroon 5 would've greatly benefitted on our charts on their first album had digital sales been tracked during the first half of the decade here in Australia.
While this song wasn't pulled from shelves given how Sony had little incentive to continue that practice during the age of digital downloads, it certainly seemed like that was the case given how this managed to stick around for much longer on that format than it did on our main charts for Britney.
This was the only hit that T pain had here in Australia throughout the 00's, it would've been his only hit were it not for the fact he scored a surprise hit in 2012 with "Turn all the lights on." Both of these were sleeper hits for the rappers, suggesting we Aussies only paid attention to them due to their success in America.
This is the final hit that Mika had in his career anywhere in the world, although you wouldn't expect the queer man to make a fat positivity anthem especially since this was released a good six years prior to when "All about that bass" became the anthem for fat acceptance.
I guess it makes sense that the final hit that Evermore had in their career proved to be a bigger hit on our digital charts than as a physical release given how much bigger their earlier entries were on this format, in fact I'd be curious to see how much bigger the singles from their first album would be had ARIA bothered to track digital sales during the first half of the decade.
This is easily the most successful entry from an Australian Idol contestant following their victory from the reality series, although I get the feeling this was popular on our digital charts mainly due to the widespread appeal it had in Stan's native NZ following its release.
Here we are with the fourth and final entry from Jordin Sparks on this list as well as Guy Sebastian's second and final entry on here, it was a bit more successful as a digital release likely through the former's appeal given how the latter didn't have much like on the format like he did with his physical releases.
This is the fourth and final time I'll be featuring this second single from Pitbull on this site, it was slightly more successful as a digital release than a physical single which goes to show how quickly our digital storefront were in changing its mind about his mass appeal.
These guys were able to score a second hit from their debut album following how well they did on Triple J's year end list for 2008 with both entries on this list, this makes it all the more puzzling that their second album would fail in 2012 even though indie music had become far more pretentious by that point.
This was the final hit that Akon had here in Australia, I almost forgot about this track when I brought up "Don't matter" two years prior as even back in the day, this song didn't create much buzz for the RNB singer and likely only became a hit due to it fitting in with the rising club boom that was happening this year. He also recruits Colby O'Donis fresh off his collaboration with Lady Gaga and someone named Kardinal Offishall.
26 weeks
Given the discourse that "Milkshake" by Kelis has had since its release in America, I'd hate to think of how the internet would react to this track from the Sugababes given how it's also built around a sexual innuendo that I doubt most of it would understand (here's a hint, the button in question isn't to an elevator like the video suggests.) They would only have one more hit in Australia after this before they faded into obscurity.
This is the final entry on this list that charted before ARIA began tracking digital downloads, as such it had the potential to appear much higher on this list and might one day do so if ARIA were to ever retroactively track down what was popular on our digital storefront each week from the first half of the decade.
I'm sure if the digital charts were introduced when this song was initially released here in Australia that this would've matched its success on that format that it achieved as a physical release, as is, it still did rather well on the storefront which is to be expected given the presence of Will.I.Am on the track.
It appears we Aussies weren't too interested in making High school musical a cultural phenomenon outside of the soundtrack's success, although I guess we had a bit of love for the big hit that the album spawned even if it's pitiful compared to the love the kiwis gave it back in the day.
The success of this track is the inverse of what "Shut up and drive" achieved here in Australia.
This was the first hit that Gym class heroes had in their career, mainly due to it sampling "Breakfast in America" from Supertramp likely to help them establish a fanbase through the nostalgia circuit that was becoming increasingly popular around the time the digital age began taking over the mainstream worldwide. Lyrically this makes sense given how both songs are about the narrator finding their girlfriend to be mediocre for them.
It appears we Aussies also had a bit of love for Daughtry back in the day even if it pales in comparison to the love the kiwis and his fellow Americans gave him, admittedly this makes the list due to its refusal to die on our digital charts much like all the new entries on here.
Much like her former partner in crime Beyonce, Kelly Rowland obviously had a more loyal fanbase when it came to her physical media as opposed to those who consumed her music through digital downloads, of course that didn't prevent her final solo hit from being a flop on that format but still.
Same reason that applies to Westlife's entry.
This was another song from 2008 that actually began charting on our digital charts in late 2007, meaning that it was bound to be more of a success on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts even though there's little indication that the Rogue traders would've done better on our main charts if ARIA tracked digital downloads for their earliest hits.
This is the only hit that Secondhand serenade managed to score in their career, even then I feel this was a bit late to the emo rock party as this feels like it should've been released during the midpoint of the decade rather than towards the end like it actually was.
It looks like Potbelleez weren't a one hit wonder with their earlier entry even though I admittedly don't have much memory of this second single of theirs, I guess this got lost in the shuffled with all the other pop rock that was making it big at the time given how it wasn't attached to an ad campaign like their earlier entry was.
I did mention this was on the cusp of appearing on this site of my site when I featured it on the NZ side, so here we are with the lead single to Coldplay's magnum opus Viva la Vida which even back in the day was overshadowed by the title track from earlier on this list.
This third single from Lady Gaga's debut album often gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to even her early discography, mainly because it wasn't even released as a single in her native America due to how long it took for the first two singles from her album to take off over there and was cancelled in favour of "Lovegame" as the third single. It's a pity because it's one of her sweeter songs in her catalogue.
I haven't brought up the differences between the AMR charts (how these lists are determined) and the ARIA charts lately on this site, this song has compelled me to do so given how it was a much bigger hit on the latter charts than it was on the former likely due to it being released around the time MJ passed away which should tell you how the music scene becomes unpredictable when something major like that happens.
It looked like that these guys were here to stay given how this managed to become a hit here in Australia just as the decade was coming to an end, although for some reason, rock music would see a sharp decline going into the 2010's which means this was their final hit single anywhere in the world.
25 weeks
This is one of two hits that the Rogue traders had from their debut album that wasn't based off a sample from an older track (their first single was based off an Elvis Costello sample) the other was "We're coming home" which was too much of a sleeper hit to make it on this site. This was a huge hit for the band as it was the song they released once they dropped their album which was a massive success.
This was originally a hit for Savage in his native NZ where it didn't have Akon providing a guest verse for him, that version wasn't released here in Australia as he was able to afford the international RNB singer by the time it was released down under almost a year after its initial release. He had a ton of other hits in his homeland; however, he remains a one hit wonder with this song (OK a two-hit wonder if you count the Joel Fletcher remix.)
I'm surprised this collaboration didn't happen much sooner in time considering how Aerosmith have been active almost as long as Santana has, I guess it was only once the latter found success by collaborating with some of the biggest names of the 90's and 00's that he finally decided to add a rock legend to his roster of collaborations with this track. Indeed, this sounds like something from the golden age of 70's rock and roll which is likely why it was a hit.
I honestly would've thought this would be a shoe in for the main list, although I guess this does come from a former cast member of Neighbours even though this feels like something the Veronicas would've released at the time. I guess this conflicted with hipper audiences who liked the song but not the fact it was a Neighbour’s property.
Considering the original version of this track wasn't among the biggest hits of the 70's anywhere in the world, it seems odd that it would be the song that British DJ Meck would decide to use it as the song to reintroduce the world to Leo Sayer decades after he last had a hit anywhere in the world. It proved to be equally as successful here in Australia as the original was likely for the video which pays homage to Xanadu of all things.
This will be Fergie's final appearance on this list, although she did come close to have "London Bridge" make the cut as both of these songs were a success on our digital storefront even if their success pales in comparison to how well they sold as physical releases.
This is the only appearance from Fedde Le Grand on this list of mine, I guess the absence of the Dutch DJ on this list is why I was surprised with the entries that achieved their success through YouTube thanks to their wacky music videos given how that was the bread and butter of his success here in Australia.
James Blunt did do far better on our digital charts than he did on the physical charts, so it only makes sense that this would be a bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia as the kiwis had prioritised the digital charts over their physical charts back in the day.
Given that this had a much higher peak on our digital charts compared to our main charts, it only makes sense that this title track from Britney's album Circus managed to be more popular from our digital storefront than it was as a physical release.
Well at least these girls were back on track with this second single from their sophomore (and to date final) album, I guess this was meant to be the opposite of "Stickwitu" as this was a breakup ballad as opposed to that being about how in love with their partner they were. I would say that this was also referring to them hating the part they were irrelevant except they had two more hits the following year before that happened.
For whatever reason, we Aussies became more receptive to victory singles as the decade was coming to an end when it came to digital sales, I guess this was a sign that even the more mundane audiences of the day finally gravitated towards digital downloads with ballads such as this.
This was also a massive hit on our digital charts for the Veronicas, in fact "Take me on the floor" only barely missed the cut for this list, which means that also did far better on our digital charts than it did on our physical charts much like this third single from their second album.
Orianthi is an Australian guitarist and vocalist who was hired by MJ himself for his This is it tour, unfortunately she was unable to showcase her skills as a guitarist due to the tour being cancelled for obvious reasons. Still, that did give her enough buzz for her second album to spawn a huge hit with its lead single about how she doesn't care about what her ex thinks of her so long as her current partner thinks the opposite.
This is the only success that Australian pop diva Cassie Davis achieved, although she wasn't really a pop diva as that term is generally reserved for the biggest female pop stars such as Madonna and Kylie Minogue which she certainly wasn't in the realms of.
24 weeks
This is the final entry to have multiple versions of it chart on our digital charts back in the day, although I can't imagine how the other version of this song goes that took a good chunk of the main version of this track's success back in the day, it was apparently enough that it diminished its chances of appearing higher on this list.
It turns out Biggie Smalls wasn't a one hit wonder here in Australia after all as he managed to achieve a second posthumous hit here with this posse cut with Diddy, Nelly and Jagged edge. I suppose if 2pac was able to keep scoring hits worldwide from beyond the grave there was no reason his main rival in his lifetime couldn't do the same.
I guess Kate Dearaugo managed to achieve what Guy Sebastian achieved and none of the other winners of Australian idol had by scoring a second hit soon after winning the show, although this is more of a track from the Veronicas as it was originally meant for their debut album but was cut from the album and donated to her instead. Even though she achieved huge success on her own, she still ended up joining Young divas later in the year.
I guess this is proof that the digital charts wouldn't have done much to recoup Avril's losses from her first two albums given how this feels like a track that belongs on those albums, at least it did decently well hence its appearance on this list, but we clearly were more interested in her bratty new direction at this point.
This arrived a little late to the party here in Australia given how it was already a huge hit for Sean Kingston months prior in NZ and his native America, however it did eventually find success here likely due to the popularity of his debut single "Beautiful girls." He would have one more hit down under with Justin Bieber on "Eeenie meenie" before fading into obscurity worldwide.
This is the last entry on this list that was a hit on the digital charts throughout the decade, that's right, there were only seventeen songs that failed to make the official list with this bratty single from Avril's third album being one of them. It goes to show how exclusive the format was given how many other songs failed to make the cut from around this time.
This is my final entry that appeared as a bonus entry on one of my official lists, here it's the fourth single from JT's second album which naturally was a victim of high album sales on the physical charts that resulted in its placement as a bonus entry.
Technically this was the first hit that Miley Cyrus had as Miley given how her earlier entry on this list was originally released on her Hannah Montana album before it was later repackaged as her debut single from the real world. This is a song written about her ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas (of the Jonas brothers) which was reportedly inspired by 10 things I hate about you which in turn is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming of the shrew.
From what I can gather, this second single from Leona Lewis's sophomore album was chosen for a charity known as Sports relief in her native UK, this meant that the ballad was a hit worldwide likely due to charity which allowed her to escape the one hit wonder bin her earlier entry on this list threatened to trap her in. She wouldn't have another hit in most parts of the world after this.
This will be Lady Gaga's final entry on this list given how "Eh eh" failed to make much of an impression in our music scene back in the day, I guess we Aussies preferred her the most eccentric her music was regardless of the music videos.
I guess this song's success largely comes from fans of Packed to the rafters being those who preferred to buy their music through digital downloads rather than physical copies given how much bigger it was on our digital charts compared to our main charts.
Given how this was a genuine hit for Chris Brown over in NZ, it appears we Aussies were willing to allow this to become a modest sleeper hit for the troubled RNB star going into the 2010's which likely resulted in his comeback a year after its release in the form of his album F.A.M.E.
This briefly scrapped our top ten just as the decade was coming to an end, I guess this was our way of letting the Script know that they were in for massive success throughout the 2010's here in Australia which proved to be the case given how their next three albums did very well down under.
This is the last anyone heard of Nelly Furtado given how her 2010's output bombed so hard that none of it even touched the charts anywhere in the world, Timbaland would have one more hit after this with Katy Perry before he too fell into obscurity worldwide.
Whereas "Snow" was the big hit from Stadium arcadium throughout the rest of the world, we Aussies passed up on that track likely due to this second single from the album already being a decent success for the band by the time it saw the light of day. These two songs are the last in RHCP's cataloguer to find any success throughout the world as their 2010's material would all flop.
23 weeks
This is often considered as one of the worst songs of the decade, mainly for how repetitive it is as well as how awful the lyrics are. Basically, it's a song that serves more as a warmup to Fergie's solo album as it can be considered the predecessor for that album's single "Fergalicious" which also has her and Will I am gawking at how attractive she is.
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