Ken Barnes began writing for Phonograph Record Magazine and Fusion in late 1971. He soon became co-editor of pioneering fanzine Who Put the Bomp in 1973, around which time he also became an editor of Phonograph Record Magazine. In addition, he wrote for Rolling Stone and CREEM and The Rock Marketplace, and started a long-running singles column that ran in New York Rocker, CREEM and Rock & Roll Confidential from approximately 1977 to 1991.

Barnes worked at music-industry trade weekly Radio & Records for nearly 20 years, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. In the mid-'90s he became an editor at Microsoft's first dedicated music website, Music Central, and was music editor at USA Today from 1998-2008. He is currently (2020) writing about music on TV for MSN Music and USA Today, and contributing to Ugly Things Magazine.