iTunes 12.7.1 deleting play count of items not downloaded

I have discovered that iTunes has been deleting the play count of the songs, movies and TV shows in my library that is not downloaded onto my hard drive.

As I take my play count very seriously, this is absolutely infuriating.

I had tried to manually add the play count so that it would restore to its previous number, but when I close the iTunes application, it deletes the data.

If keeping the play count is a removed feature, then I am very disappointed. The ability to keep track of a play count is the only reason I continue to use Apple products. Without it, I have no reason to do so.

This has not happened in any of the previous versions of iTunes.

I have tried signing out of my account, deauthorising and reauthorising the computer, but to no avail.

Another bug that I have encountered with iTunes 12.7.1 is that it refuses to let me show all purchases or only those downloaded. This means that half my library is not visible unless I specifically log onto my account through the iTunes web page.

Has anyone else encountered this or found a solution?

Specs:

Windows 10

113GB of free space on HDD