Magnetic recording media for longitudinal recording, process for producing the same and magnetic memory apparatus

A magnetic recording medium for longitudinal recording with a low media noise, a high S/N ratio and high reliabilities in corrosion resistance is disclosed. By making a magnetic layer from a Co-based alloy comprising 1 to 35 at. % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Pt and Ir, 1 to 17 at. % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Ge and Si, except for Si, whose concentration is 1 to 40 at. and 0.1 to 10 at. of oxygen, a magnetic recording medium for longitudinal recording having an inplane coercivity of 1,200 Oe or more and a coercive squares of not more than 0.85 is obtained. A process for producing the magnetic recording medium for longitudinal medium and a magnetic memory apparatus using the magnetic recording medium for longitudinal recording are also disclosed.