Ohm
You load a Spotify track in rekordbox, go to record the set, and find that recording is unavailable. The set plays fine. It just will not be kept. This is not a bug or a setting you missed: rekordbox recording cannot be used with streaming tracks, and the software says so in its own documentation.
Since a rekordbox update in August, it is also more likely to happen in the booth. If the set matters to you, sort it out before the gig. Afterwards is too late.
What changed in rekordbox 7.2.18
The rekordbox 7.2.18 release note, dated 18 August 2026, brought two changes for anyone who DJs from Spotify. If your CDJ/XDJ players or all in one unit are compatible and on their newest firmware, rekordbox now lets you sign in to Spotify right there on the hardware with your Spotify account. EXPORT mode also handles Spotify tracks.
The same note carries a catch. Neither USB EXPORT nor LINK EXPORT will get a Spotify track onto CDJ/XDJ or all in one hardware for loading or playback. Logging in on the player is how streamed tracks reach the booth. A USB stick full of them will not get there.
So streaming has moved off the laptop and onto the player screen. That puts streamed tracks into more booth sets, and more DJs may reach the end of a night wanting a recording that does not exist.
What rekordbox actually says
The rekordbox ver. 7 streaming FAQ does not hedge. Under the restrictions common to all modes, it states: "The recording function cannot be used. This is due to copyright restrictions set by the streaming services."
The same FAQ lists the other limits that apply to streamed tracks:
- You cannot edit track information, and a rekordbox backup leaves the music files out.
- You cannot export streamed tracks to a USB drive or an SD card.
- In PERFORMANCE mode, capture is off and the sampler deck will not take a streamed track.
- Apple Music and Spotify tracks get no STEMS.
- In EXPORT mode, LINK EXPORT will not carry or play a track from any streaming service.
Put those side by side and the logic shows. Anything that would turn a stream into a copy you could keep, reuse or move is switched off, and recording is one more item on that list.
Is it just rekordbox?
No. Serato and djay document the same restriction, and so does SoundCloud.
Serato DJ Pro. Serato's FAQs answer the question service by service. For Spotify, the Serato DJ and Spotify FAQ says: "Recording is not currently supported when using Spotify streaming tracks in Serato DJ Pro." The Apple Music, TIDAL and SoundCloud FAQs each give the same answer for those services.
djay. Algoriddim's manual covers djay Pro on Mac and djay on iOS, and it is just as plain. A mix cannot be recorded if any track in it streams from Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL or SoundCloud, and Mix Recording stays switched off whenever a streaming service is the source.
The services themselves. SoundCloud's own help pages agree with the software. Its rekordbox integration page says: "Recording DJ sets with streamed SoundCloud tracks is not supported." Its Serato page says the same in different words.
The documented restriction sits in the DJ software. These vendors agree for one reason: the rule comes from the licences the services grant, and no single company designed it.
The quality problem, even if you could record
Forget the rules for a moment. What is a streamed track, in file terms? The rekordbox FAQ lists the formats each service delivers:
- Spotify: Ogg at 320 kbps by default, or 96 kbps on the low setting.
- SoundCloud Go+ and SoundCloud DJ: 256 kbps AAC on high quality, otherwise 160 or 96 kbps AAC.
- Apple Music: 256 kbps AAC.
- TIDAL (on a plan with the DJ Extension): 320 kbps AAC, or FLAC at 44.1 kHz and 16 bit.
Most of that list is lossy. A recording cannot hold more detail than its source. Record a 256 kbps AAC stream to a 24 bit WAV and you get a perfect picture of a compressed file. Whatever the codec removed stays gone. TIDAL's FLAC option is the best of the bunch, and that is still only CD resolution.
Offline use is limited too. Per the FAQ, rekordbox will not keep Spotify tracks for offline use, and it will not play Apple Music without a connection. Offline copies from SoundCloud DJ and TIDAL last 30 days after you store them. Log in online near the end of that period and the window resets. The FAQ adds that the duration can vary by track. Some tracks never appear in rekordbox at all, because their copyright holders limit how third parties may use them.
None of this makes streaming useless. It makes it a poor foundation for a recording you care about.
The terms follow the music, not the recorder
Recording the mixer output on a separate device does not change any of this. The restriction lives in the licence attached to the streamed audio, and that licence travels with the music wherever it ends up. Whatever captures the signal, the service terms allow the same thing.
Apple's Media Services Terms put the principle in writing. They restrict Apple's services and content to personal, noncommercial use, and state that "Apple's delivery of Services or Content does not transfer any commercial or promotional use rights to you". A mix built from that content inherits those limits.
Owning a file does not settle every question either. SoundCloud's guidance on uploading DJ mixes makes the same point from the other side: every track in your mix still belongs to its rights holders, and publishing the mix on SoundCloud takes their explicit permission. Purchased files get you a clean, lossless, recordable source. Publishing is a separate permission. If you plan to share a set, our guide to why DJs cannot legally stream their sets covers how platform rights work.
If you want to keep the set, build it from files you own
The practical answer is a habit. Before the gig, decide whether this is a set you want to keep. If it is, play it from purchased files.
- Check the playlist. Make sure every track in the set is a local file in your collection, not a streamed track. rekordbox cannot record while streaming tracks are in use, so keep them out of any set you plan to keep.
- Buy the tracks that make the set. Lossless WAV, AIFF or FLAC from a store gives you a source worth recording.
- Prepare as usual. Analyse the files and export to USB the normal way, so the players have everything they need without a connection.
- Leave streaming for what it is good at. Discovery, practice at home, the odd request.
- Check the terms before publishing. A recording made from owned files still needs the right permissions to go online.
Digital DJ Tips puts the rule neatly: "stream the music you like, buy the music you love."
When the source is a lossless file, recording quality starts to matter. Ohm records whatever your mixer sends over USB audio to your iPhone as WAV, at Standard (44.1 kHz, 16 bit), High Quality (48 kHz, 24 bit, the default) or Best (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit). Those settings pay off when the music feeding them was never compressed. Our guide to Ohm's recording formats explains which to pick.
A set worth keeping starts with the crate
A REC function you cannot use is a symptom. The real decision happens earlier, when you choose where each track in the set comes from. Streaming gives you a huge library to dig through and test. The sets you want to listen back to, archive or share deserve files you own, at a quality that survives the recording.
