Automatic Log-out while iTunes is playing

Question

For a long time neither I nor Apple technical representatives were able to figure out why my system would automatically log out after some time when its only activity was playing something in iTunes.
Finally I figured out that playing something in iTunes disables automatic sleep settings, but it does not disable automatic log-out in System Preferences > Security > "Log out after _ minutes of inactivity". In order to prevent automatic log-out, you have to disable this setting.
I wonder if this is an oversight in the iTunes program, because other programs (e.g. Pages, Numbers) cancel this automatic log-out if there is an unsaved document open. Having something playing in iTunes really should do this as well.

Answer 1

Thanks so much for posting this solution. Was driving me nuts. Using Airtunes to provide party music was consistently getting embarrassing just as we were sitting down to dinner and I had to excuse myself to get up to log-in on the computer again.... ridiculous... can't thank you enough for pointing to the solution.