The present invention pertains to a storage medium for use in a magneto-optical storage system. The storage medium comprises two layers of magnetic material, a storage layer and a read layer. The magnetic material of the storage layer has perpendicular (or vertical) axis of orientation; and within the storage layer the direction of magnetic orientation is either parallel or anti-parallel (up or down) relative to the direction of an impinging read radiation beam. In this storage system, the direction of orientation of magnetic material in one direction represents a first logical state, and a direction of orientation in the opposite direction represents a second logical state. The direction of orientation is thus a function of stored data. The read layer has parallel magnetic orientation and a transition temperature above the operating temperature but below the read temperature such that the axis of orientation of the magnetic material and the direction of orientation of the read layer during readout is the same as the corresponding portion of the storage layer.