Is it a sign of things to come for the CMJ Music Marathon? Saturday's media coverage of the five-day conference focused less on unknowns and largely on one very famous band that played a not-so-secret show in Brooklyn on Friday night. Some industry folk through the week have praised CMJ for being an event at which unrepresented bands can truly be discovered by agents, publicists, labels, media and the like, differentiating the conference from South By Southwest, which in recent years has attracted celebrities such as Courtney Love and Justin Timberlake to its stages. But there wasn't much chance anyone heading to a show by “The Reflektors” at a warehouse in Bushwick thought they were about to witness music's next coming. The show – advertised as “formal attire or costume mandatory” – was picked up early by music blogs; the band name referenced the title of Arcade Fire's forthcoming fourth album, Reflektor. And so tickets and door spots were worth their weight in gold, second-hand tuxedos were purchased and the stunt earned the band the kind of publicity money can't buy in New York.

It's a different scene at the annual Aussie BBQ, held by Sounds Australia at The Delancey, on the Lower East Side. The last day of the conference begins with sizzling sausages on the bar's rooftop deck before Australian acts play over two stages to a mainly Australian industry crowd. As cocktail hour arrives mid-afternoon, Geoffrey O'Connor takes to the bar stage with his band to play glittery new wave hits from his last record as well as a few new songs. O'Connor's CMJ has included a showcase with Joanna Gruesome and The History Of Apple Pie, as well as a party for Underwater Peoples Records, which was shut down by the NYPD, he tells the crowd. “This next kitchen hit is called Jacqueline,” he then announces and launches into his latest disco-leaning single. Nearby, Ginger & The Ghost singer Missy calls out, “I love you!”

Geoffrey O'Connor.

In the downstairs band room, Brisbane band Sheppard rolls out its spray-tanned soul revue while Sydney duo The Falls plays a more low-key set of easy-listening folk pop upstairs, followed by Melbourne's Bored Nothing. Backed only by drums courtesy of The Delta Riggs' Simon McConnell (who'll play later with his own band), Bored Nothing's Fergus Miller proves his songwriting chops with slacker guitar tones and untouched vocals. Let Down (340,000 YouTube views and counting) is everything good about the lo-fi pop movement. On a bill heavy with midlevel rock and folky singer/songwriter fare, O'Connor and Bored Nothing are today's underdogs, playing to relatively small crowds, while Kirin J Callinan and Melbourne's REPTILES, touting more abrasive sounds, have been given the post-midnight slots, past the hour of keen industry attention. It would be nice to see these genre-busting acts given more support by the Australian industry.

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Victoria's Gossling fills the room, playing a set that includes previews of her new album, Harvest Of Gold, out in November. The drum kit has been set up on the floor in front of the stage due to space constraints and stays there for a set from Courtney Barnett and band, which causes chaos in the bar as people squeeze into every available nook and cranny to catch the Melbourne songwriter. It's Barnett's final CMJ performance and the word is well and truly out.

Courtney Barnett.

As the sun goes down, across the East River in Williamsburg, Portland band Hockey fill another band room to the brim as they play a showcase at Cameo Gallery hosted by music blog The Wild Honey Pie. It's been a few years since the group became UK indie darlings, landing on the Glastonbury line-up and featuring on Later… With Jools Holland, but their bratty West Coast electro punk spirit remains in tact following the release of this year's album, Wyeth Is. Wearing a backward cap and dangly silver earring, frontman Ben Grubin is tonight also sporting a bass, which he's learned to play “just last night because our bass player has an opera show on tonight”. He leads the group into the latest album's My Mind, which adds tremolo guitar to a synth melody straight from the world of Marc Almond.

If it's true that only a thimbleful of acts ever emerge from CMJ with the increased notoriety (and backroom deals) from which to launch a national or international career, Empress Of can be counted amongst those blessed few this year. The Brooklyn producer and singer – real name: Lorely Rodriguez – hardly started the week as an unknown, having been called the “new Grimes” in The Guardian and hyped by Pitchfork already in 2013. She began the week at the True Panther Sounds showcase and tonight has phones held high inside Cameo. Before Rodriguez even gets into her set, someone in the crowd yells, “Happy birthday!” Rodriguez gives a big smile. “Yes, I'm 24 today.” Then she adds, “I'm really tired but I'm having a lot of fun.” As does the crowd, grooving to her lush synth productions. The show swerves from Baile funk dancefloor fillers with acrobatic R&B vocals to widescreen pop that relocates Kate Bush to a pool party on a Spanish island. A few new songs give more evidence of Rodriguez's developing songwriting and add to the excitement of a debut album, whenever that might come. Drinking the last of her pint of beer near the set's end, it appears Rodriguez might be up for a couple days off. After five long days at CMJ, who can blame her?