A magnetic recording medium is prepared by coating a dispersion of non-magnetic powder and ferromagnetic powder in a binder and a dispersion of ferromagnetic powder in a binder to a non-magnetic substrate by a wet-on-wet coating technique to form subordinate and magnetic layers on the substrate, and subjecting the layers to magnetic field orientation. The subordinate layer has a Br of 80 to 400 gauss, and the magnetic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 μm. The medium has surface smoothness and good electromagnetic characteristics and lends itself to recording and reproducing signals having a minimum wavelength of 0.2 to 0.7 μm.