A perpendicular magnetic media includes a substrate, a patterned template, a seed layer and a magnetic layer. The patterned template is formed on the substrate and includes a plurality of growth sites that are evenly spaced apart from each other. The seed layer is formed over the patterned template and the exposed areas of the substrate. Magnetic material is sputter deposited onto the seed layer with one grain of the magnetic material nucleated over each of the growth sites. The grain size distribution of the magnetic material is reduced by controlling the locations of the growth sites which optimizes the performance of the perpendicular magnetic media.