Well, now U2 does, kind of. The band has set up a precursor site to what will be its official one, and it’s already garnering a reported 509,000 hits per day. When the site is finished, it will offer fans a peek into the final weeks of the recording process of U2’s upcoming album.

Visitors to the site will be able to take a virtual tour of the studio online with the help of a 360-degree revolving Webcam, as well as register to receive e-mailed updates and band news.

The final launch is set for September.

Though it’s estimated there are thousands of U2 fan sites, with the exception of a temporary touring site during the PopMart world tour in 1997-98, this marks the first time the band has developed its own Internet presence.

U2 guitarist The Edge said, “Up ‘til now we’ve felt that there was so much high quality U2 information on sites run by fans that we shouldn’t add to it unless we could do something significantly different. But now, with technological advancements, we’re in a position to add something unique.”