 This definition embodies the purpose of the entirety of The Anthropology of Music, being that ethnomusicology is not weighed further in favor of the ethnological or musicological, but instead an inseparable amalgamation of the two.Another aspect of ethnomusicology which Merriam sought to make clear in The Anthropology of Music is the overarching goal of the field of ethnomusicology.Merriam claims, “There is no denial of the basic aim, which is to understand music; but neither is there an acceptance of a point of view which has long taken ascendancy in ethnomusicology, that the ultimate aim of our discipline is the understanding of music sound alone.” This harkens back to the difficulties in ethnomusicology’s past priorities, which were simply the understanding of sound as an object in and of itself, and almost no emphasis was placed on the relationship music had with the cultures it existed in.