Croatian popular music is the popular music of Croatia.

Prominent mainstream pop artists include: Oliver Dragojević, Gibonni, Dino Dvornik, Toni Cetinski, Thompson and others. Croatia is known for the specific Dalmatian sound performed at various festivals along the Adriatic coast with Oliver Dragojević being one of the most eminent artists. Some of the most successful and long-lasting rock music acts that are treated as "pop" in Croatia include Parni valjak and Prljavo kazalište. A highly acclaimed singer-songwriter is the chanson-inspired Arsen Dedić. Internationally successful singer and songwriter Ivo Robić is a representative of the Zagreb school of schlager. Hip hop bands such as The Beat Fleet and Elemental are also now treated as pop in Croatia. The underground music scene include popular punk rock bands Hladno Pivo, Let 3, and others. Two most popular pop-folk singers, and mainstream artists are Severina and Jelena Rozga.

Ivo Robić was one of the first acclaimed popular music artists in Yugoslav Croatia. He emerged in the late 1940s and later launched a very successful international career as well, closely cooperating with the famous composer and Polydor producer Bert Kaempfert, whom he convinced to produce the then upcoming act The Beatles after seeing them performing in the Top Ten Club in Hamburg. Robić is the author of the famous schlager that was later popularized by Frank Sinatra as Strangers in the Night.

The Croatian rock music began in the 1950s, and one of the first classic rock-n-roll performers was Karlo Metikoš from Zagreb. He moved to Paris, France where he started a successful international career under the pseudonym Matt Collins. He recorded for Philips Records and had an opportunity to meet legends such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Paul Anka.

During the 1960s many prominent groups emerged such as Grupa 220, Crveni koralji and Roboti. The latter featured Ivica Percl, who, after leaving Roboti in September 1966 because "they were too loud," became a protest singer-songwriter influenced by the acoustic sound of Bob Dylan, Donovan and Joan Baez. In the same year, the internationally acclaimed Croatian chanson-influenced singer Tereza Kesovija represented Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966. Another notable female vocalist who emerged in this period was Josipa Lisac (later Karlo Metikoš's wife) who still enjoys huge popularity in Croatia.^{[citation needed]}

The 1970s saw the emergence of artists who espoused hard rock, progressive rock and other styles. Notable artists of that decade included Dado Topić's Time, Atomsko sklonište and many others. Other important group formed in this period is Parni valjak led by Aki Rahimovski. The late 1970s were marked by the punk rock explosion. The group Paraf from Rijeka was one of the first punk bands in Croatia and the former Yugoslavia in general, and later they moved on to post-punk.^{[citation needed]}

From punk rock emerged the new wave, and Croatia developed a successful scene of its own called Novi val (meaning New wave).

The scene included some the most notable Croatian artists such as Prljavo Kazalište, Azra, Haustor, Film and Aerodrom. This period of the Croatian rock is covered in the rockumentary Sretno dijete released in 2003. Following the decline of the Novi val scene, many new artists emerged during the 1980s: the art rock and New Romantic bands such as Boa and Dorian Gray, the latter led by Massimo Savić, and also the synthpop duo Denis & Denis which featured Marina Perazić, originally from Rijeka, who later became a solo pop artist. Furthermore, from the 1980s to the early 1990s was a great generation which brought out Tomislav Ivčić whose famous song "Večeras je naša fešta" (meaning "Tonight is our night/party") was considered to be one of the best generational songs to have been written, and is also considered to be one of the most chosen karaoke songs to sing. Through this composer, Dalmatia (the Adriatic coast line region) has changed forever due to his great influence, musically and politically.