A magnetic recording medium comprising a plastic base film, a thin magnetic metal layer formed on one side of the base film and a backing layer formed on the other side of the base film, characterized in that the backing layer is composed essentially of a thermoset or radiation-cured resin and carbon black and inorganic compound powder uniformly dispersed in the resin, and has a surface roughness of from 0.05 to 0.4 .mu.m, said carbon black having an average particle size of from 10 to 150 m.mu.m as measured by an electron microscope, said inorganic compound powder having a Mohs hardness of at most 6 and a particle size of from 10 to 500 m.mu.m, and the ratio of the carbon black to the inorganic compound powder being from 1:9 to 9:1.