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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Likely due to it coming off too much as a victory single from a reality series which our digital storefront wasn't a fan of in the 00's.
This was such a commercial disappointment for Beyonce here in Australia, I'm not sure why as this lead single to her second solo album used the same formula as "Crazy in love" right down to it having her future husband Jay-Z on as a guest rapper. I guess her fans wanted her to embrace her feminist side of her music as she would find more success with her feminist (and sometimes misandrist) anthems from here on out.
While this was far less successful as a digital release than as a physical single here in Australia, the fact that it still lingered in the top twenty of that format should give you an idea of how well-loved Kelly Clarkson was even if fans were admittedly weary about the direction she was taking her career in with this track and the album it came from.
While this duet between Beyonce and Shakira was more of a success as a physical release than on our digital storefront, it was still a huge hit regardless of which format we're looking at which makes the failure of the latter's third English album here all the more puzzling later in the decade.
I actually don't know why this was more of a hit on our physical charts than it was on our digital charts.
I told you this only barely missed the cut for appearing on the main list, in fact it's technically more popular than "This love" on the digital format but only because it charted much higher on those charts. It of course didn't chart nearly as long which is why it places much lower on this list than that does.
There's little surprise that this was more of a hit on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts considering how these guys got their start as a YouTube act, although it's impressive they were able to appeal to those who preferred to consume their music through physical media back in the day.
This proved to be equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, I'm guessing she won over those who were put off by her third album on the digital storefront given how much less popular "Never again" was earlier in the decade on there (it's still to reappear on this list regardless.)
This was a bit more of a hit on our digital charts than it was as a physical release for Rob Thomas, this makes sense given how his band scored one of the biggest hits of the decade on that format despite them not having a huge physical hit single their debut single from 1997.
While her previous two entries proved to be more successful as physical releases than they were on our storefront, the same definitely isn't the case with the singles from Funhouse as this was far more popular as a digital release than it was on our physical charts.
You better believe that the Glee phenomenon was so inescapable when the show debuted that it was able to spawn a genuine hit for its cast in the music industry, indeed this cover of the Journey classic was one of the last hits of the decade worldwide due to it being so well received on the show that it single handedly made the original a cultural icon despite it being a massive flop back in the 80's.
The original version of this track was a massive flop worldwide for Kid Cudi, likely because of how unconventional it was even for the realms of emo rap. It was given a second chance this year when a group by the name of Crookers remixed the track to be more commercially viable where it became a massive hit for him here in Australia and his native America.
22 weeks
I think this was meant to be the "Lose yourself" of 50 cent's autobiographical film Get rich or die trying, it was a hit worldwide likely due to the film being a box office success (even though it was panned by critics for being a rip-off of his mentor's film) but it didn't receive any accolades to my knowledge nor did it reach the dizzying heights of Eminem's Oscar winning ballad from earlier in the decade.
This is the oldest song on this list, suffice to say that even though it does appear lower on here than it would on my hypothetical physical list, the fact that it retains a high position on here despite how long it charted on our main charts easily suggests that it was far more popular on our digital storefront than it was as a physical single here in Australia.
This was far less popular on our digital charts than it was as a physical release, I'm guessing because Nick Lachey's only claim to fame here in Australia was that he was the ex-husband of Jessica Simpson, meaning that the bulk of his audience here were likely those who bought physical singles as they were fans of several songs that didn't make the cut for this list.
Over a decade prior to his presence on the song which single handedly introduced the world to 2010's reggaeton "Despacito," Daddy Yankee was a one hit wonder with his own reggaeton track which became a surprise worldwide success for the Latin artist likely due to how catchy it was compared to everything else on this list. You'd think that he would've thrived during the Zumba craze of the 2010's given how his music would fit into those playlists.
It's entirely possible that James Blunt would've had even further success with the first two singles from his debut album had the digital charts launched when they were initially released, as is, the third single from the album was far more popular on our storefront likely due to it being unaffected by the albums success on there as opposed to how its success as a physical release was impacted by it.
Victory singles generally didn't do so well on our digital charts like they did as physical media.
This may have quickly fallen off the digital charts once they initially launched, however it too was released several months prior to their launch which easily suggests that it was simply going out of vogue in our music scene rather than it being rejected by the digital crowd. Quite impressive given how Ashlee disgraced herself two years prior with her infamous SNL performance in the eyes of the music scene.
I guess this song from Happy feet really connected with those who consumed music from digital downloads considering how much more successful it was on our digital charts than it was as a physical release, although I'm sure this would've been an even bigger hit on the latter format if anyone knew who Gia Farrell was outside of the film's soundtrack.
Well, if you couldn't tell by the title of this song, this was a novelty track about the hobby ping pong that became a surprise hit for the Australian band Operator please likely due to this being an excellent time for offbeat songs to make it big in the mainstream worldwide. I'm willing to bet that if streaming had existed back then, this would be one of the biggest hits of all time down under as well as a huge international hit.
This was originally released two years prior from the Swedish pop star September (real name Petra Marklund) it wasn't a big hit anywhere in the world for some reason which led to it fading into obscurity. It was given a second chance this year when a British DJ remixed it where it became a massive success for her everywhere in the world including America which was unusual for a European artist by this point in time.
I guess Akon was able to score one more entry on this list after all given how his remix of MJ's 1983 classic managed to be more of a success on our digital charts than it was as a physical single upon its release. I did notice while combing through our digital charts that older songs did pop up in the lower half of those charts quite often throughout the decade which would explain this remixes success.
Much like his earlier entry on this list, I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't more of a hit for T.I on our digital charts especially considering how it had JT as a guest feature, although their other collaboration from earlier on this list also didn't do as well on our digital charts as it did as a physical release.
This was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our main charts, although the fact that her earlier entry finally outranks this on a list on my site is an accurate representation of how successful her solo career was during the final stretch of the decade.
This was the title track from Jessica Mauboy's second album, it was a big hit for her just like another entry that's still to come on this list, proving that she was robbed three years prior when she lost the fourth season of Australian idol.
21 weeks
For whatever reason, "Behind these hazel eyes" was a massive commercial disappointment here in Australia despite how well I remember hearing that song on the radio back in the day. Fortunately, the fourth single from Breakaway was a massive hit for Kelly Clarkson due to it being about her dealing with her parents' divorce and how it left her emotionally scarred growing up.
This was the third victory single to come out of Australian idol, although at least this time, the winner in question had more of a career than her predecessor as Kate scored a second solo hit after this as well as a ton of success as one of the members of Young divas.
I guess Chris Brown needed to earn his way into becoming a superstar as far as our digital storefront was concerned as there’s no evidence this was a hit at all if that format launched during the height of its popularity.
Given the success of their earlier entry on this list worldwide, Hinder was finally able to find massive success with their album which included this second single from the band that was a hit only here in Australia and their native America. These were the only two hits that the band was able to achieve as their second album failed to become a success for them the following year when it was released.
This was the lead single to the Rogue traders second and final album with Natalie Bassingthwaighte as their lead vocalist, as you can tell, it wasn't as inescapable as the previous entries I've featured on this site so far which should tell you how it struggled to find an audience back in the day. Their next single was a much bigger hit for them the following year, proving their time in the spotlight wasn't over just yet.
This was another E.P that Missy Higgins managed to score a hit with on the singles charts, although this formula didn't work out as well for her as despite it debuting at number one on our charts, it was only half as successful as the other two E.P's I've mentioned on this site from her. Still at least the album overall was a massive success.
Well given how the Crazy frog was no longer able to score hits in the music scene, this allowed the German creation Gummibear to fill in for the amphibian which managed to score one hit this year thanks to its CGI video making the waves on YouTube. This won't be making my weird videos list as it was obvious that the bizarre imagery on there was intentional much like it was on Crazy frog's videos.
I told you Maroon 5's ambitions of doing whatever it took to make it big in the mainstream began much sooner than people thought, here we have a song featuring Rihanna that didn't have the famous pop star on the album that became a worldwide hit for the band. It's a bit of a coincidence that this was released ten years prior to when they would repeat this feat with "Girls like you" only with Cardi B instead of Rihanna (and with a video appeasing the feminists.)
Jordin Sparks was certainly on a roll during the second half of the decade when it came to both formats of our charts, so much so that it's bizarre that the hits would dry up for her going into the 2010's even though she began on a strong foot with her collaboration with Guy Sebastian (which is still to reappear on this list.)
This was another near miss for the main list that proved to be equally as successful as both a digital release and as a physical release here in Australia, again this is further proof that pop divas were equally as welcome with the cool kids as they were with the more mainstream audience throughout the decade.
20 weeks
There were no signs of these girls slowing down in the music industry as their second single managed to become a massive worldwide hit for them, this time it's with one of their ballads which showcases a more restrained side of them which I'm sure also titillated their audiences the same was as their other songs did.
I guess this was released quite early in the year which would explain why it only lasted a few weeks on the digital charts when they first launched, this suggests that the second single from Nickelback's magnum opus All the right reasons was indeed quite popular on the format and thus, popular with those more in touch with the hip crowd.
This would've been Guy Sebastian's final hit in his career given how his fourth album Memphis album failed to produce a hit single for him and that none of his albums were that successful (barring his debut of course.) He would score a massive comeback by the end of the decade which would extend his popularity well into the 2010's.
Given how the third single from Shannon Noll's second album was a bit of a commercial disappointment here in Australia (it won't be appearing on this list) this fourth single becoming a big hit was a bit of a surprise given how its placement on here was due to how well it did with its physical sales (as are all entries on this list.) I guess this goes to show that "Now I run" was more of a weak choice for a single than anything else.
This was commissioned for the fifi world cup this year; it combines the works of Queen with the popularity of the Crazy frog which explains its success even if I know many Queen fans are screaming at this entry as they read it. If it's any consolation for those people, this was the song which killed the Crazy frog phenomenon as it didn't have any more hits after this.
This was the second single from Delta Goodrem's third album, here she incorporates new age into her sound which helps elevate the message of regaining one's personal believes in something after it's been destroyed. While it was a hit for her, it wasn't as big as a lot of her other entries on this site so far, suggesting that people didn't find it as inspiring as she had hoped.
This was equally as popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, this is despite the fact that from what I can gather, the censored version of this track never charted on our digital charts meaning that we Aussies certainly loved our profanity in these types of songs.
While it's hard to say how much more or less success Ciara would've had during her initial breakthrough in Australia had digital downloads been a factor onto our charts, this collaboration she had with JT would suggest that it would've made little difference overall given how it was equally as popular regardless of which format we're referring to.
Last but not least, we have this bonus track that came from Britney Spear's second greatest hits album she released at the end of the decade, this goes to show how much hype she had for her first album of the 2010's which naturally wasn't met when she released it in 2011.
This is the final hit that the Pussycat dolls were able to achieve anywhere in the world, it was always intended on being the fourth single from their second album but was pushed back from its planned release due to the surprise success of their earlier entry with A.R Rahman on this list.
19 weeks
This was the fourth hit to come from Mariah Carey's comeback album, although like the other entries from the album, it was far more successful in her native America as the rest of the world was likely still sceptical at the time that she had recovered from her erratic behaviour from earlier in the decade which she clearly had by this point in her career. It could also be that love ballads weren't doing so well in the mainstream at the time internationally.
This feels like an odd choice for a single because like the rest of Confessions on a dance floor, this was meant to flow in from the previous track on the album and into the following track seamlessly to give off the illusion it was one big continuous song on the album. That didn't seem to hinder its popularity here in Australia as it became a massive hit for the queen of pop even this far into her career.
I guess this was the song that confirmed that Chris Brown wasn't going to be a flash in the pan as it managed to become a worldwide hit for the RNB singer, it wasn't exactly the biggest hit anywhere in the world, however it did promise him a ton of success that he would of course achieve later in the decade.
You know that Nicole Scherzinger was inescapable this year when she was able to revive the popularity of Diddy after four years of him not having a hit anywhere in the world, here they are with that song which is a sex jam about how much they're both into each other which naturally titillated audiences this year.
I bet you were beginning to forget that Kelly Rowland had a solo career given how omnipresent Beyonce was even this soon after the demise of Destiny's child throughout the world. Here she is with her first single from her second album which comes complete with a guest verse from Eve who was also still scoring hits this far into the decade despite her also not having much success as a lead artist for several years by this point.
This was the final hit that Young divas achieved here in Australia, this being a cover of the Loverboy track from 1981 and had Ricki Lee replaced in the group with Jessica Mauboy given how the former had a massive hit this year with her earlier entry on this list.
Given how Nicole Scherzinger was able to revive Diddy's popularity the previous year, it only makes sense that he was score a second hit from around this time with the assistance of Christina Aguilera who was also as the height of her popularity thanks to the success of her album Back to basics.
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