music would stop as soon as the workstation's monitors went to sleep
Windows EDID strikes again.
Basically when Windows detects that one of the connected "monitors" shuts off, or the input on the AVR/TV changes etc, playback stops or Windows "moves/resizes" apps/video, and even desktop icons.
The fix is to trick Windows into thinking that the monitor stays connected. I've heard that Windows 11 supposedly has this option, but I run Win 10. Some GPU's have EDID override to get around this, like nvidia Quadro or some newer Intel NUC's. But if your GPU/driver does not, the BEST way to trick Windows is an external hdmi hardware EDID device.
I tried many - several active hdmi switches, "monitor detect killer" (pin 19), 4k HD Fury, but the only one that provides ZERO problems ended up being:
https://atlona.com/product/at-etu-sync/ (can be found on eBay for less than $50)