Improved reliability for multi-layer media is providing by the present invention. A data stream U is received for recording to a multi-layer rotating storage medium, the data stream U comprising a sequence of data bits. Each data bit U(J) is encoded into X representation bits. A first representation bit B(1,J) is recorded onto a first layer of the storage media, the second representation bit B(2,J) is recorded onto a second layer of the storage media, etc. When a request to read the recorded data U from the storage media is subsequently received, a plurality of the X representation bits are read back from the storage media and are decoded into the original data bit U(J). In one embodiment, encoding may be performed with a convolution encoding algorithm and decoding with a PRML decoding algorithm. In another embodiment, Reed Solomon encoding/decoding may be employed.