Disclosed is a magnetic recording medium capable of reducing noise and an error rate of the medium. The medium comprises a nonmagnetic substrate; a magnetic layer formed on the surface of the nonmagnetic substrate directly or through a nonmagnetic underlayer; and a protective layer formed on the magnetic layer; wherein the magnetic recording medium satisfies the following relationships: −0.5≦{Hc(1)−Hc(p)}/Hc(1)≦0.3 Hc(1)≧2 kOe 20 G×&mgr;m≦Br(1)×t≦100 G×&mgr;m where Hc(1) indicates a corecivity of the magnetic layer measured in the longitudinal direction; Hc(p) indicates a coercivity of the magnetic layer measured in the perpendicular direction; Br(1) indicates a remanent magnetization of the magnetic layer measured in the longitudinal direction; and “t” indicates a layer thickness of the magnetic layer.