PURPOSE: To improve the corrosion resistance and durability of a magnetic recording body especially for a contact start and stop type magnetic recorder by forming a magnetic metallic thin film on a substrate, coating the film with a thin film of a metal having lower oxidation resistance than the magnetic metal, and carrying out oxidation to form a protective film.

CONSTITUTION: The surface of an Al alloy substrate for a magnetic disk is plated with Ni-P or the like, and the plated surface is mirror-finished. A magnetic metallic thin film is formed on the finished surface by plating with Co-Ni- P or the like, and the resulting magnetic layer is plated with Co-P having lower oxidation resistance than the magnetic metal. The substrate is then immersed in dil. sulfuric acid at 30°C and treated in the air at 250°C for 1hr to convert the Co-P film into a uniform protective oxide layer by oxidation. A magnetic recording medium having superior damage resistance and suitable for a CSS type head floating system for a magnetic disk or the like is obtd. without requiring the formation of an intermediate layer between the magnetic and protective layers.