Recording DJ mixtapes

I'm venturing into creating my first mixtape. Being a newbie in this art form, I'd appreciate some guidance on the following:

1- I have a Pioneer ddj 400 which is great for live performances. Do you recommend I use this controller (together with Rekordbox) to mix the songs and record the mixtape, or do you recommend I use another software (e.g. Ableton Live)?

2- Can mixes be created using songs coming from streaming platforms (e.g. Spotify, Beatport Link), or is it strictly necessary to download the song audio files to manipulate them and mix them into the overall mixtape?

3- Some songs are available on Beatport, some on Spotify, some on YouTube, etc... what's the best way to unify songs coming from different sources into single mixtape? I'm curious to learn about your workflows.

Thank you!!

1 - It's really up to you which software and/or hardware you use as your "instrument" to create your mixes.

2 - I would recommend you download the songs in order to create your mixes.

3 - Once downloaded, load all the audio files into one software, then it no longer matter where they were downloaded from.

my dj software (Serato DJ Pro) has recording built right into the software. its really as simple as that, hit record start playing. there are some simple settings like quality, location, and recording levels. with out even looking it up, im sure rekordbox has something simialr.

I would look into that before running any other software, the dj softwares tend to appreciate being the only running app.