In one embodiment, a tape drive includes a magnetic head having a plurality of read sensors, each read sensor being configured to read data simultaneously. The tape drive also includes a controller and logic integrated with and/or executable by the controller. The logic is configured to receive encoded data read from a plurality of tracks of a magnetic tape medium simultaneously. The logic is also configured to perform priority-based decoding on the encoded data based on erasure coefficients associated with at least one codeword of the encoded data. In another embodiment, a controller-implemented method includes receiving encoded data read from a plurality of tracks of a magnetic tape medium simultaneously and performing priority-based decoding on the encoded data based on erasure coefficients associated with at least one codeword of the encoded data.