Apple Devices doesn't save synced artists list in Windows

I am using Windows 11 and an iPhone 13 mini. I want to sync only certain playlists and artists from my music library to my phone. The Apple Devices app only saves which playlists to sync, but does not save selected artists. When I open Apple Devices and sync my phone, it removes all songs that are not on playlists because the list of artists is completely unchecked. iTunes used to save which artists were checked, so it makes no sense that Apple Devices doesn't do the same. Also, choosing too many artists to sync will make the app crash. Apple is pushing everyone into streaming subscriptions, but we Gen X'rs own lots of music. I'm ready to switch to Android because of how awful the process is just synching music to my phone.

Does anyone have a solution for this?