Very true, this is a relatively recent development done for marketing.
Without naming names in "Living the Martial Way" the author addresses the time when the title was devalued to this level asking how a person can have a Title of "Master" of a system when that system still has material not yet laught / learned at that level.
Very good book. I've read it a couple of times. IIRC he was also very disillusioned about the 'masters' all arguing about how the stripes should look on the belt and other non-important items.