FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

The Company currently has various financial instruments carried at fair value, such as marketable securities, derivatives and contingent consideration, but does not currently have nonfinancial assets and liabilities that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. The Company’s financial assets and liabilities are measured using inputs from all levels of the fair value hierarchy as defined in the FASB guidance for fair value. For this categorization, only inputs that are significant to the fair value are considered. The three levels are defined as follows:

Level 1—Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that can be accessed at the measurement date.

Level 2—Inputs include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (i.e., interest rates, yield curves, etc.) and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means (i.e., market corroborated inputs).

Level 3—Unobservable inputs that reflect assumptions about what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. These inputs would be based on the best information available, including the Company’s own data.

In accordance with the fair value hierarchy described above, the following table shows the fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis, which are classified on the balance sheets as cash and cash equivalents, other current assets, other long-term assets, other current liabilities and other long-term liabilities:



	Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2016								Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2015
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
			(in thousands)								(in thousands)
Assets:
Cash equivalents	$	55,081	$	—	$	—	$	55,081	$	30,102	$	—	$	—	$	30,102
Forward currency contracts	—		2,957		—		2,957		—		979		—		979
Total	$	55,081	$	2,957	$	—	$	58,038	$	30,102	$	979	$	—	$	31,081
Liabilities:
Interest rate cap	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	1	$	1
Forward currency contracts	—		363		—		363		—		680		—		680
Put option	—		—		5,147		5,147		—		—		7,258		7,258
Contingent consideration	—		—		44,195		44,195		—		—		19,877		19,877
Total	$	—	$	363	$	49,342	$	49,705	$	—	$	680	$	27,136	$	27,816

Cash equivalents consist of money market funds. Fair values for cash equivalents are based on quoted prices in an active market. Fair values for forward currency contracts are based on observable market transactions of spot and forward rates. Fair values for the interest rate swaps are based on inputs corroborated by observable market data with similar tenors.

A third party has a put option to sell its noncontrolling interest in one of the Company’s subsidiaries to the Company and is carried at fair value using Level 3 inputs because the redemption date and redemption amount are not fixed. The put option is triggered by the occurrence of specific events, one of which is certain to occur, and requires the Company to buy the noncontrolling interest. The redemption amount for this put option is a variable amount based on a formula linked to historical earnings. The Company has recorded a current liability for this put option which is valued based on the historic results of that subsidiary. Changes in the fair value are recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses.

The Company has certain contingent consideration obligations related to acquisitions which are measured at fair value using Level 3 inputs. The amounts due to the sellers are based on the achievement of agreed-upon financial performance metrics by the acquired companies where the contingent obligation is either earned or not earned. The Company records the liability at the time of the acquisition based on the present value of management’s best estimates of the future results of the acquired companies compared to the agreed-upon metrics. Subsequent to the date of acquisition, the Company updates the original valuation to reflect current projections of future results of the acquired companies and the passage of time. Accretion of, and changes in the valuations of, contingent consideration are reported in selling, general and administrative expenses. See Note 6—Commitments and Contingent Liabilities for additional information related to the contingent payments.

Due to their short maturity, the carrying amounts of accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximated their fair values at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

The Company’s outstanding debt held by third-party financial institutions is carried at cost, adjusted for premium, discounts or debt issuance costs. The Company’s debt is not publicly traded and the carrying amounts typically approximate fair value for debt that accrues interest at a variable rate, which are considered to be Level 2 inputs. The estimated fair values of the Company’s 5.375% senior notes, 4.875% senior notes and the 2.5% convertible senior notes were $259.7 million, $578.5 million and $294.6 million, respectively, at December 31, 2016. The estimated fair values of the 7% senior notes, 5.375% senior notes and the 2.5% convertible senior notes were $443.1 million, $249.4 million and $280.2 million, respectively, at December 31, 2015. The estimated fair value of the Company’s third-party fixed-rate debt is based on quoted market prices in active markets for the same or similar debt, which are considered to be Level 2 inputs. The Company has fixed rate debt held by noncontrolling interest partners with a face value of $35.9 million and $33.2 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The Company is unable to determine the fair value of this debt.

The following table shows the fair value of the Company’s financial assets that have been adjusted to fair value on a non-recurring basis which had a significant impact on the Company’s results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015:



	Fair Value		Fair Value Measurements Using						Loss
Description	Measurement		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		(Gain)
	(in thousands)
2016
Investment in nonconsolidated affiliates	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	16,455

2015
Investments in nonconsolidated affiliates	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	(9,124	)

As discussed in Note 2—Long-Lived Assets, during 2016, the Company believed certain of its investment balances were impaired based on financial information received regarding the bankruptcy or dissolution of two nonconsolidated affiliates, which are considered Level 3 inputs.

During 2015 and 2014 the Company recorded net gains related to investments in nonconsolidated affiliates of $9.1 million and $16.4 million, respectively, as a component of other expense, net. The 2015 gain was related to the acquisitions of a controlling interest in a festival promoter and an artist management business, and the remaining interest in a ticketing business, which were previously accounted for under the equity method. The 2014 net gain was related to changes in the governing agreements of two artist management businesses resulting in those businesses being consolidated by the Company on a prospective basis. Prior to consolidation in both years, the Company remeasured these investments to fair value using a discounted cash flow methodology. The key inputs in these fair value measurements include future cash flow projections, including revenue and profit margins, discount rates and attrition rates. The key inputs used for these non-recurring fair value measurements are considered Level 3 inputs.

During 2014, the Company recorded impairment charges related to definite-lived intangible assets of $11.1 million as a component of depreciation and amortization. The impairment charge primarily related to intangible assets for client/vendor relationships in the Artist Nation segment and technology in the Ticketing segment. In all these cases it was determined that these assets were impaired since the most recent estimated undiscounted future cash flows associated with these assets were less than their carrying value or that the technology would no longer be used. These impairments were then calculated using operating cash flows which were discounted to approximate fair value. The key inputs in these calculations include future cash flow projections, including revenue and profit margins, attrition rates as applicable, and, for the fair value computation, a discount rate. The key inputs used for these non-recurring fair value measurements are considered Level 3 inputs.

During 2014, goodwill impairments were recorded for the International Concerts reporting unit in the Concerts segment and the Artist Services (non-management) reporting unit in the Artist Nation segment in the amounts of $117.0 million and $17.9 million, respectively, in conjunction with the Company’s annual impairment tests. The Company calculated these impairments using a combination of a discounted cash flows methodology, which uses both Level 2 and Level 3 inputs, and a market multiple methodology, which uses primarily Level 2 inputs. These key inputs include discount rates, market multiples, control premiums, revenue growth, estimates of future financial performance and attrition rates. See Note 1—The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 2—Long-Lived Assets for further discussion of the Company’s methodology and these impairments.

During 2014, the Company recorded an impairment charge related to indefinite-lived intangible assets of $6.0 million as a component of depreciation and amortization. The Company made a decision to rebrand certain of its markets that were not using the Ticketmaster trade name. In connection with the rebranding, it was determined that an indefinite-lived intangible asset for a certain market was fully impaired since the transition to the Ticketmaster trade name was substantially completed for that market during the third quarter. The fair value of this asset was calculated using a relief from royalty method. The relief from royalty method applied a royalty rate to the projected earnings attributable to the indefinite-lived intangible asset. The projected earnings for this non-recurring fair value measurement are considered Level 3 inputs.