Why can't iTunes play music from read-only external hard drive?

I have a write-protected external hard-drive which I keep all of my iTunes media on. iTunes recognizes all of the files, including the metadata on the id3 tags, and can find the files in Windows Explorer. However, it cannot play the files while the drive remains write-protected. Is there a work around for this as I would prefer to keep the hard-drive protected? Why does iTunes require write-access to play songs? Other media players have no problem playing from my read-only external hard-drive. Thanks for any help

Welcome to the Apple Community.
When you say you can't play through both devices at the same time, what happens when you try, are you able to select multiple speakers, do they deselect themselves, do you not get the option or does it just not work when you select multiple speakers.

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    Welcome to the Apple Community.
    When you say you can't play through both devices at the same time, what happens when you try, are you able to select multiple speakers, do they deselect themselves, do you not get the option or does it just not work when you select multiple speakers.

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