Magnetic coatings are made up of either magnetic particles dispersed in a polymeric matrix or thin continuous films of magnetic material. Magnetic tape stiffness, in both the machine and transverse directions, influences the way in which tapes conform to magnetic heads in magnetic tape drives. For this reason tape stiffness plays an important role in the friction, stiction and wear characteristics of a magnetic head-tape interface. In this study, a test method for measuring bending stiffness is developed. A tape segment is pressed against a load cell to measure the change in force as a function of the tape's normal displacement. Stiffness values are obtained from load vs. displacement data and a derived analytical model for the displacement of the tape segment in terms of load and geometry. Stiffness measurements of finished tapes and tape substrates are presented. The correlation between tape stiffness in the machine and transverse directions, and read/write head contouring and edge wear, is also presented.