Alan Parkhurst Merriam (1 November 1923 – 14 March 1980) was an ethnomusicologist during the last half of the twentieth century. He is remembered primarily for his book, The Anthropology of Music, in which he promotes the study of music from an anthropological perspective and with anthropological methods.
In The Anthropology of Music, Merriam proposed a tripartite model for the study of ethnomusicology, centering around the study of "music in culture." This model suggested that music should be studied on three analytic levels: conceptualization about music; behavior in relation to music; and the sound of music. In later works, Merriam amended his original concept of "music in culture" to "music as culture."
Essentially, Merriam identified two separate paths to ethnography for the field of ethnomusicology, one dealing with sound and the other with behavior. In this, he opposed Mantle Hood, another prominent ethnomusicologist of the time. He died in the LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 catastrophe, on March 14, 1980.