Without a governing body to confer the oh so grand title of 'Master' and ensure the abilities of said smith does it really matter?
In one sense, yes, because a rookie like me claiming to be a master can make many other smiths lives and livelyhoods more difficult by giving smiths in general a bad name. Just as an incompetent doctor, lawyer, mechanic gives all of his trade a black eye. Guilt by association. So in the commercial realm having a ranking system that would guarantee a certain level of ability that people could use as a criteria in selecting a smith might be useful.
In hiring coop programmers (3-6 month gig while going to school) for my company the level of degree and the GPA, when coming from a single institution, are helpful in narrowing the field and making sure that I weed out guys who might not motivated or have not mastered the set of skills I know they are being taught.
On the other hand , no, I have no degree and was hired solely based on my drive and later, my accumulated knowledge. My work, once I had the experience and happy employers, spoke for itself. I think it is the same in the smithing world. Once you have a baseline experience, whether through formal training or not, the ensuing experience and how you apply the craft are what truly matter. In the end the degree or title only matters at the start of their careers.
For me personally a master is anyone who's work and technique I admire and would like to learn more from and if I am lucky would like to teach me.